The 1900s
This 1906 architectural rendering shows Selfridges, a revolutionary London department store designed by American architects. Its scale and ambition—housing thousands of goods under one roof—embodied a new way of shopping that soon transformed American cities and daily life.
The 1900s · Full story
You step through brass doors into a soaring hall flooded with electric light. Marble columns rise toward ornate ceilings as crowds drift past gleaming display windows, each one a carefully staged world of its own. Everything you could possibly need is here, waiting.
Reflect
What draws you into a store today—the window display, the promise of discovery, or something else?