They don’t make entrepreneurs like Mr Selfridge any more. Harry Gordon Selfridge, the man behind one of the world’s best department stores, and pretty much the inventor of “retail theatre” and “experience retail”, was also a bit of a goer, creating scandals left, right and centre. And now, his story is to be made into an ITV series, trailed as the next Downton Abbey. Under the working title Mr Selfridge, it’s based on the excellent Shopping Seduction & Mr Selfridge by Lindy Woodhead.
While Downton has floundered rather in its over-stuffed and unnecessarily twisty second season, the life of “mile-a-minute Harry” has more than enough to keep viewers enthralled. The series promises to cover the excesses of his life (profligate spending, global adventure, store rooftop parties, the menage-a-trois with flapper twins the Dolly Sisters) and hopefully the innovations too (big in-store events, modern attitudes to service, new technologies).
ITV are pitching it as a story of the emancipation of women, but although that was kicking in at the same time as Selfridges’ boom in the at the beginning of the 20th Century, I’m not sure creating a palace of luxury consumption is exactly emancipating. But what the hell do I know? Anyways, if it’s anywhere near as lushly (and slightly vacuously) done as Downton, the Americans will bloody love it, and I for one intend to watch the hell out of it.
How Things Are Done 