“Going up?” After a tough week for department stores it feels as if that sales aspiration is as dated as the singsong phrase in the opening credits of Are You Being Served? Simpsons of Piccadilly, which inspired the fictional Grace Brothers department store in which the 1970s TV sitcom was set, is long gone, and several of its modern equivalents are now fighting oblivion.
The boss of John Lewis, Peter Ruis, clearly decided it was time to exit the elevator this week, announcing his abrupt departure from the UK’s biggest department store chain in a surprise statement. Days later, Harvey Nichols, the luxury Knightsbridge store that was once a byword for 1990s chic, was bought out of administration for a knock-down price by the owner of Sports Direct, Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group.
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