They Sell Fridges, Don't They?

Selfridges, on the north side of Oxford Street is where I go when I'm feeling low, much in the same way that Holly Golightly does in Tiffany's.

Original plans for the building at the turn of the twentieth century included a huge central dome, taller than St Paul's but even in those days, rich Americans had problems with planning permission. Selfridge's was one of the first and largest steel-framed buildings in Britain, (the very first was the Ritz)

The statue above the famous Selfridge's clock is called the Queen of Time. It's usually used as a point of reference for lesser establishments across the road who imaginatively use it in their advertising, "opposite Selfridge's clock".
She represents the spirit of Commerce and there's also a statue to Commerce on Holborn Viaduct)

The Central Line trundles worryingly close to the bowels of the building and the rumour that Gordon Selfridge had his own private underground station has never been disproved. Certainly part of the building were used as secret US intelligence headquarters during World War 2.

Selfridges - my retail heaven