The phrase “the customer is always right” is attributed to Gordon Selfridge, the American businessman who traveled to Britain after the turn of the 20th century and opened his eponymous department store in London. Nearly one hundred years later, the flagship Selfridges store receives 17 million customers annually into their 540,000 square feet of shopping — the U.K. second largest department store — extending over six floors. While Harrods and Fortnum & Mason should also be on your to-do list when vacationing in London, the Selfridges experience should not be missed.

Selfridges exploded onto the London scene in 1909. Unlike many other famous department stores than grew from modest beginnings, opening day was comparable to the birth of a full-grown adult. The store’s official website notes that the first sale was a ladies handkerchief to a woman who lived on Bond Street, and that a shoplifter was apprehended that first day for attempting to steal an umbrella and a walking stick! Women were targeted in the store’s marketing (remember, women were used to being accompanied to stores by their husbands or male family members) with the slogan “Why Not Spend the Day at Selfridges?” (Indeed, women and men and their families traveling to London today can make an entire day’s visit to the store – eat three full meals, be entertained, relax, and of course shop for everything they need. In 2002 the store was awarded the London Tourism Award for being visitors’ favorite store.)

Some of Mr. Selfridges’s innovations at the time of the store’s opening are used to this day. The perfume and cosmetics area was placed on the ground floor in the front of the store so customers walking in would be impressed with the pleasant smells that welcomed them upon their arrival. Items for purchase were attractively arranged in front of counters, not behind, giving access to the consumers to examine and touch the merchandise. Music was played as the shoppers moved throughout the departments.
World War II buffs will be interested to know that Winston Churchill’s direct line to Washington D.C. from his underground Cabinet War Rooms was first connected to an enormous computer used to scramble the calls for security reasons. The computer was housed in the basement of Selfridges.

Everything in the store can be categorized into its seven major departments — Women’s, Men’s and Children’s furnishings, as well as Healthy/Beauty, Home, Leisure/Technology, and Food/Drink — although an amazingly wide range of unique (or is it unusual?) services are located within the London branch. While many department stores offer salon services, key cutting and travel agents, when was the last time you were able to get your bicycle repaired, get yourself massaged and spray-tanned, have your ears pierced and get a new tattoo, have your CDs ripped and put onto your iPod for you, then get light-scanned for precise measurements for a new pair of women’s jeans – then hitting the gas station in the parking lot before heading home? Believe it or not, it can all happen to you at Selfridges on Oxford Street. Also, all the major designers offer their clothing and accessory lines at the store.

You may be familiar with the Miss Selfridge line of clothes, geared mainly for teens. The line is available at nearly 200 retailers worldwide in addition to being found right there on Oxford Street.

Along with the very impressive food hall, there are 19 different places within the store to grab a bite to eat or something to drink – everything from the traditional (chains like EAT and Yo Sushi and Starbucks) to the unusual (the exclusive 32-seat Moet Bar serving champagne cocktails and exotic bar snacks or the self-explanatory Obika Mozzarella Bar).

Store hours are 9:30 – 8:00, with reduced hours on Sunday and late shopping on Thursdays. Selfridges is located at 400 Oxford Street between the Marble Arch and Bond Street tube stations, on the north side of the street. If you’re traveling at the holidays, you can expect the usual Christmas shopping rush – but wait around for January if you can, as the sales are especially welcome for U.S. tourists trying to stretch their dollars.

Every Saturday morning, the exuberant Portobello Market in Notting Hill will give all five of your senses a run for their money. The sights, sounds and smells of London all come alive very early and you’ll be bombarded by an almost unbelievable range of antiques, foods, clothing, and – let’s be blunt – absolute junk. It’s a great place to people watch, since people from all over the world seem to end up on that one street at that one particular time, but pay close attention to the owners of the stalls. They are wonderful people with tremendous personalities and no one knows better how to entice a tourist into buying whatever they’re selling. When you need a quick escape from the hustle and bustle of Portobello Road, there are two side streets to the west which will offer you a quiet refuge while still providing you with a fascinating shopping (and eating) experience. These streets are Elgin Crescent and Blenheim Crescent.

As you turn from the Portobello Market onto Elgin Crescent, you’ll find two very successful and popular shops on the south side of the street. Neal’s Yard Remedies is a socially responsible herbal and homeopathic shop that features cosmetics and hair care products along with the expected natural medicines and aromatherapy treatments. An offshoot of their flagship Covent Garden store, Neal’s Yard’s company philosophy states, “we believe real health is generated from the inside.” You’re sure to find a treat here, from items such as the new frankincense line of products to standards like rosemary, lavender and juniper essential oils and seaweed scrubs.

The other shop is Mr. Christian’s, a bakery and delicatessen that was recently crowned the best shop in Notting Hill by the locals in the MyVillage Mini-Oscars competition. There is a wide variety of meats, cheeses, and pasta dishes, and a tremendous selection of jellies and mustards. There’s an incredible selection of breads and pastries out front, and a fully-stocked freezer of Haagen Dazs in the back. You can’t miss.

As you travel to the north side of Elgin Crescent, you’ll see two separate Graham and Greene shops. One sells furniture and home furnishings and the other features a wide variety of gifts for the home and the family. Prices range from the reasonable to the extravagant, but the selection of items is always amazing. They’ve been in business over 30 years, but some of their stock is as modern as it gets. (Seek out the brightly-colored raffa umbrellas and the gorgeous chandeliers if you want some memorable purchases from your time in Notting Hill.)

As you head northwards to the parallel Blenheim Crescent, you’ll find the now-infamous Travel Bookshop on the south side of the street. It served as the inspiration for the Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts’ movie “Notting Hill” and, if you’ve seen the movie, you’ll find that the real thing is shockingly similar to the movie set used. Chock full of travel guides, narratives, biographies, children’s books, maps, and even some rare antique books, the shop is open seven days a week and is usually quite crowded with tourists and locals alike on Portobello Market Saturdays.

Finally, as you cross the street, you’ll eventually discover Books for Cooks – another specialty bookstore with a surprise hidden at the back. Books for Cooks stocks literally thousands of cookbooks from around the world, beautifully displayed and organized, and can help you track down hard-to-find books and even provide worldwide mail order. Perhaps the shop is most successful because of the very small test kitchen at the back of the store, where the recipes come to life and are prepared by a variety of chefs on a daily basis. There are only a few tables, and the morning’s cakes and pastries are devoured quickly (along with espressos or strong pots of tea) – as are the lunches – so you need to show up early. At one point in the shop’s history, cooking courses were held in this small kitchen, but because of the overwhelmingly positive response and demand for more spaces, a full demonstration kitchen was built upstairs to accommodate the locals and out-of-towners who learn the basics of international cooking, vegetarian dishes, and wine tasting. Cookbook authors often make appearances to sign books and create dishes from their latest work. Books for Cooks is a home away from home for foodies from every part of the world, and an oasis from the hustle and bustle of London’s busiest weekend market. It shouldn’t be missed.