Harrods is a famous shop and is a location that appears twice in the Strike series, in The Ink Black Heart and The Hallmarked Man.
In The Ink Black Heart
Midge tails Fingers here, and “by a bloody good stroke of luck I got a seat beside the pair of them at the champagne and caviar bar in Harrods.” (Chapter 86)
“I’ll look out for that in your monthly expenses,’ said Strike.”
In The Hallmarked Man:
Robin Ellacott fights her way through the Christmas shoppers in Harrods on Monday 19th December 2016 in order to find Albie Simpson-White, who allegedly works in the department store. Robin is tasked with this mission because “Woman’s voice; less frightening.” (Chapter 15)
She has visited the store twice previously, once with Matthew Cunliffe and once with her mother. It’s a store filled with items she can’t afford.
After a couple of hours of searching the eight-story building, Robin finds him “in the ladies sports department on the fourth floor. Where he was standing close to a life-size fibreglass horse, assisting a mother and daughter to find the correct size of riding breeches.” (Chapter 29)
Albie agrees to meet her at the staff entrance at 28 Basil Street adjacent to the store’s main building. Robin goes to the Food Hall to peruse the Christmas gift foods “with the vague idea of buying some chocolate or biscuits to take home to Masham.” (Chapter 29)
Whilst distracted and hemmed in by the crowd of shoppers she’s viciously attacked from behind, a warning whispered in her ear and handed a parting gift of a rubber model of a gorilla, alluding to the attack on her when she was nineteen.
She attempts to find the attacker, heading for the exit onto Brompton Road, then phones Strike.
‘It wasn’t a coincidence.’ ‘No,’ said Robin, as double-deckers rushed past her, the faces of passers-by illuminated by the golden glow of Harrods’ windows. ‘I don’t think it was either.” (Chapter 29)
The current “massive red brick splendour in the heart of Knightsbridge, outlined in the dull mid-afternoon with golden lightbulbs, its green and gold awnings stretching over windows full of clothing, handbags and jewellery” (Ch 29) was built in 1884 after an 1883 fire destroyed the original store started by Charles Henry Harrod in 1851.
It has always prided itself on being the ultimate one-stop-shop and at various times in its history customers were able to borrow books from its library, book train tickets or buy an elephant from the pet department.
Its acquisition by the controversial Muhamed al Fayed in the mid 1980s led to him spending an alleged £400 million on a refurbishment. The central escalator, the original moving stairs were an astonishing phenomena in 1898 when their users were offered brandy after the experience, was created in an “Egyptian style”.
“Floor by floor Robin ascended the Egyptian staircase, which had golden ankhs, pharaohs and constellations on its walls and ceiling” (Chapter 29)
The food hall that Robin begins to explore is a highlight for any trip to London, the range of fresh and Harrods branded foodstuffs is vast and luxurious, overlooked by the original wall tiles from 1903, designed by William Neatby.
Robin meets Albie Simpson-White at the staff exit on Basil Street. They go to the Alfred Tennyson.
Find Harrods on the map below: