A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appearance in the middle of the 19th century, and permanently reshaped shopping habits, and the definition of service and luxury. Similar developments were under way in London, in Paris and in New York (Stewart's).
Willard Gordon Galen Weston was a British-Canadian billionaire businessman and Chairman Emeritus of George Weston Limited, a Canadian food processing and distribution company. Weston and his family, with an estimated net worth of US$8.7 billion, are listed as the third wealthiest in Canada and 178th in the world by Forbes magazine.
Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908.
The John Lewis Partnership plc (JLP) is a British company which operates John Lewis & Partners department stores, Waitrose & Partners supermarkets, its banking and financial services, and other retail-related activities. The privately-held public limited company is owned by a trust on behalf of all its employees — known as Partners – and a bonus, akin to a share of the profit, is paid to employees. John Lewis has around 80,800 Partners/employees as of 2020. JLP group is the third-largest UK non-traded company by sales in The Sunday Times Top Track 100 for 2016. The chain's image is upmarket, and its customers are likely to be more affluent consumers. It was a member of the International Association of Department Stores from 2004 to 2010.
Harry Gordon Selfridge, Sr. was an American retail magnate who founded the London-based department store Selfridges. His 20-year leadership of Selfridges led to his becoming one of the most respected and wealthy retail magnates in the United Kingdom. He was known as the 'Earl of Oxford Street'.
Marshall Field & Company was an upscale department store in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, Inc acquired it in 2005. Its eponymous founder, Marshall Field, was a pioneering retail magnate.
British Home Stores, commonly abbreviated to BHS and latterly legally styled BHS Ltd, was a British department store chain, primarily selling clothing and household items. In its later years, the company began to expand into furniture, electronics, entertainment, convenience groceries and fragrance and beauty products.
Allders was an independent department store operating in the United Kingdom.
Habitat, is a brand of household furnishings in the United Kingdom and the main homewares brand within the Sainsbury's group.
Arcadia Group Ltd was a British multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It was best known for being the previous parent company of British Home Stores (BHS), Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Debenhams, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Topman, Topshop, Wallis and Warehouse. At its peak, the group had more than 2,500 outlets in the UK, as well as concessions in UK department stores and several hundred franchises operated internationally.
Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. ("Havertys") is an American retail furniture company founded in 1885. Beginning with a single store in downtown Atlanta, Havertys has grown to become one of the top furniture retailers in the south and central United States.
(La) Rinascente is a collection of high-end stores with Italian and international brands in fashion, accessories, beauty, homeware, design and food. It operates eleven stores in Italy, including its general headquarters in Milan and two flagship stores in Rome.
The Selfridges Building is a landmark building in Birmingham, England. The building is part of the Bullring Shopping Centre and houses Selfridges Department Store. The building was completed in 2003 at a cost of £60 million and designed by the architecture firm Future Systems. It has a steel framework with sprayed concrete facade. Since its construction, the building has become an iconic architectural landmark and seen as a major contribution to the regeneration of Birmingham. It is included as a desktop background as part of the Architecture theme in Windows 7.
The Chirathivat family is a Thai family of Chinese descent. The family was headed by Tiang Chirathivat, who migrated to Siam from Hainan and settled in Bangkok in 1927. Tiang's original Chinese surname was Cheng. He had 26 children with three wives that resulted in roughly 220 descendants today. Fifty-one are currently involved in the business. His descendants jointly own and manage the Central Group, and are ranked third on Forbes' list of Thailand's fifty richest.
Rosario Messina,, was an Italian entrepreneur, who in 1978 founded the Italian company Flou, an avant-garde furniture manufacturer.
OKA is a British furniture and home accessories retailer founded in 1999 by Annabel Astor, Sue Jones, and Lucinda Waterhouse and owned by Investindustrial. OKA has 14 shops across the UK, together with British and American websites and a catalogue business.
Signa Holding GmbH is Austria’s largest privately owned real estate company. Signa was founded in 2000 by the Tyrolean entrepreneur René Benko. Over the years, it has become a pan-European real estate group with more than 150 employees and offices in Vienna, Innsbruck, Munich, Düsseldorf, Luxembourg, Zurich, Bolzano, Berlin and Hamburg. The principal focus of the group is long-term investment in real estate in prime city centre locations. The firm has also became the biggest owner of malls in Mid Europe with over 46.000 employees.
Tos Chirathivat is the executive chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Central Group and head of one of Thailand's leading family business groups. The Central Group owns more than 100 department stores and shopping malls. It also operates hotels and restaurants, with a total of 5,000 outlets. He and his family are among the richest families in Thailand.
Groupe Habitat is an international chain of stores of British origin created by Sir Terence Conran in 1973, which specialises in the sale of furniture and contemporary decorative accessories. In September 2011 it was purchased by the French group Cafom SA distribution, who sold it to the industrialist Thierry Le Guénic in October 2020.
