Whiteleys

Britain’s first department store opened its grand, Edwardian doors back in 1912, five years after the murder of William Whiteley, the self-made entrepreneur behind the scheme. Gordon Selfridge – founder of Selfridges – bought it in 1927 and it continued to flourish until World War II.

On account of its long and illustrious past, many were sad when it finally closed down in 1981, after years of gradual decline, unsuccessfully trying to compete with the lure of the booming West End. Since its grand reopening in 1989, Whiteley’s has retaken the crown of central London’s largest shopping centre (with over 300,000 square foot of selling space) and helped to revive the Bayswater area.

The colonnade façade of this magnificently restored building dominates Queensway. Inside the marble ‘La Scala’ staircase is the centrepiece of the main atrium, lined with a fantastic array of shops. Sadly some things have changed - the rooftop golf course is now a carpark and the in-house theatre a more contemporary multiplex cinema – but Whiteley’s still retains a degree of old-time charm.

It’s stuffed to bursting point with over 70 shops, stocking anything from the latest fashions to herbal remedies. Upstairs there’s a TV studio where Channel 5’s ‘The Wright Stuff’ is filmed.