Harrods – it’s the legendary department store and the definition of luxury, but in the past it’s also been the equivalent of Alice getting lost in Wonderland. You can buy (literally) anything you could possibly think of within its walls, but alas this does often come with a price of needing a Satnav to find the correct department. Until now.
Harrods have redesigned (in our opinion) the most exciting part of the whole store: the beauty hall. Stuffed to the brim with seriously bouji beauty brands, Harrods’ legendary beauty hall makes us feel like a kid in a candy shop, except we’re grabbing Gucci lipsticks instead of Drumstick lollies. Ok, maybe those as well…
We chatted to Mia Collins, Head of Beauty at Harrods, to get the inside scoop on why the iconic department store decided now was the time to reinvent the beauty shopping experience as we know it. ‘We’re mid way through Harrods’ big refurb but because beauty is such a huge piece of the puzzle when it comes to the store, we really wanted to get it right’, explains Collins.
‘Even we admit it can be tricky to navigate around the store, it did used to be an apartment building so it’s not exactly open planned. We wanted customers to have a streamlined experience so that they can play and have fun’.
And have fun we will. The regeneration, that has taken a year to complete, has increased the space of the beauty playground by a whopping 53% and introduced everything from a beauty concierge service, where you can take all your beauty woes to members of staff who are informed on every brand on the beauty floor, not just their own counter (none of the classic, ‘I’m sorry I don’t work on that brand’ malarkey), to an events space where Harrods will host masterclasses in partnership with their hero brands.
Not to mention the brand new beauty exclusives to the store. For the first time ever Gucci Beauty, La Bouche Rouge and Bond No.9 lipsticks will have their own unique homes within the hall. ‘The brands have been an absolute dream to work with, they’ve all interpreted the brief for the redesign differently. It’s really been a pairing between the individual brands and Harrods, which has never been done and will never be done again’, explains Collins.
No two counters are the same which, as a customer, makes you feel like you’ve been transported to an immersive world created by each brand.
The main goal for the redesign? ‘We wanted customers to light up when they entered the space, it’s a real celebration of what beauty is all about: having fun and adding a bit of joy into customers lives’, Collins explains. ‘The redesign was all about evolving with our customers, of course, shopping online has its appeal but we wanted to celebrate what retail has to offer which is all about human interaction and feeling connected to brands’.
We’re sold.
https://www.elle.com/uk/beauty/a27914087/harrods-beauty-hall-relaunch/