Harrods (often incorrectly spelled "
Harrod's" is an absolutely
enormous and
upscale department store in
London,
England, by the Knightsbridge
tube station. If you want to buy something, especially something
posh, you can find it at Harrods -- if you have the
money.
Bargains are somewhat hard to find at this store, and you have to pay a
pound to
pee (it costs a pound to get into the restrooms).
Highlights of the store include the massive men's suit section, featuring salesmen who glom onto you in just the right way: not in a smarmy manner, like they want to sell you the most expensive suit there, but rather in a way that suggests that they already know exactly which suit would look fabulous on you, and they really want you to try it on. The shoe section is also a marvel, according to my wife. The jewelry section is a case study in non-intrusive store security, with unbelievable amounts of lavish, beyond-description stuff. Souvenirs of London and Harrods abound (my sole non-food non-gift purchase at Harrods was a fruit-and-logo-covered tea cozy).
However the true highlight of Harrods is the four-room food section, featuring a full sushi bar, beautiful fresh fruit and vegetables, and cooked and uncooked items of all descriptions. If you want some mini Beef Wellingtons with horseradish foam, you can get them (for about five pound each mind). Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and other ethnic sections all coexist in this wonderful area. There's also a restaurant, but it's really just a glorified cafeteria.
In all, Harrods is a wonderful place to visit and gawk, and a true shrine of upper-crust consumerism, but not a particularly good place to buy if you have any sort of sense with money. Oh, and the security there is quite tight-assed -- if you have a knapsack they will make you carry it in front of you and not behind. Or maybe I just looked shifty =).
A wonderful floorplan of the store can be found in Acrobat format at http://www.harrods.com/info/floorplan.pdf.