Comment: Has Selfridges hit the limit for department store retailing?

What are the boundaries to department store retailing and at what point might shoppers start looking for a back-to-basics approach? On Friday, Selfridges and Everyman Cinemas opened a movie palace in the basement of the Oxford Street flagship. It’s got an illuminated canopy of the kind that used to adorn the entrances to cinemas almost everywhere (a long time ago) and if you feel like dropping in to catch the Polanski season, it’s the kind of thing that Everyman does along with general releases, look no further. There are 60 seats and when the cinemagoer is finally installed, winsome types will come over with the offer of drinks and food. What could be nicer?

Well, almost nothing, but is this what department stores are about? If you want to take a trip to the other extreme, a visit to Peek & Cloppenburg in Berlin might do the trick. This is a department store that sells clothing, just clothing. It is not cheap and is pretty high gloss, but as far as extending beyond a core competence or category is concerned, this doesn’t happen.

And somewhere between these two there are the more standard department store offerings that are home to everything from hairdressing to homewares, as well as designer togs. Stop for a moment however and consider what might usefully be added to a standard department store that would be required on a general basis; rather than private jets and suchlike, as are on offer courtesy of Harrods Aviation (it flies out of Luton and Stansted – probably cheaper that way), an offshoot of the Knightsbridge emporium.

In days gone by, Harrods used to have the soubriquet “top people’s store”.

Well maybe so, but for the great bulk of us Debenhams is probably close to the mark with House of Fraser for holidays and high days.

Would an in-store cinema be appropriate for either of these retailers or would we expect to get our clothing, homewares and beauty products and be done with it? The answer is probably the latter and there is a sense that unless you are either very big or very luxurious, then variance from this status quo is not likely to be a paying proposition in terms of the amount of space deployed to the revenues accrued.

Department store retailing is a strange beast and there is much to be said for it as a break from the high street norm. But for the most part it will have limits in just the same way as any other part of the retail panorama.