{"id":218592,"date":"2023-03-07T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T08:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/?p=218592"},"modified":"2023-03-07T17:40:45","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T17:40:45","slug":"sales-at-harrods-exceed-pre-pandemic-levels-despite-economic-downturn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/sales-at-harrods-exceed-pre-pandemic-levels-despite-economic-downturn\/","title":{"rendered":"Sales at Harrods exceed pre-pandemic levels despite economic downturn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harrods<\/a><\/span>' Managing Director said he was confident that the luxury department store would prosper in an economic downturn because \u201cthe rich get richer in a recession\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking to the Financial Times<\/a>, Michael Ward, Managing Director at Harrods, described the retailer as a \u201cshop window to the world\u201d, confirming that the business was now \u201ctrading ahead of 2019\u201d after it was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of tourists in London during low levels of international travel.<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cCOVID was a good kick for us to refocus on our local customers. We continue to go from strength to strength here. Statistically the rich get richer in a recession...whatever your political persuasion.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the UK narrowly avoiding recession in 2022 and financial pressures continuing to mount, almost three quarters (73%) of UK consumers are planning to cut back on retail spending over 2023<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Ward, who has been at the helm of Harrods since 2005 and also manages H Beauty, also said that the Windsor framework, designed to reform Northern Ireland\u2019s post-Brexit trade rules, was \u201ca real step forward\u201d in the UK\u2019s fraught relationship with the EU, even if an optimal arrangement wasn\u2019t \u201cthere\u201d yet.<\/p>\n

Ward recently said that the 173-year-old retailer is falling behind Paris and Milan's luxury trade due to the decision to stop VAT-free shopping.<\/a> <\/span>He claims that the decision has put tourists off making luxury purchases in Britain\u2019s capital city.<\/p>\n

Ward also said that shoppers increasingly bought goods from a few prestigious \u201csuperbrands\u201d such as Louis Vuitton<\/a><\/span> and Herm\u00e8s<\/a><\/span>. He concluded: \u201cThe constant trend is people going for more and more and more premium items. The rise of the superbrands is getting absolute, so that middle ground of the market is becoming tougher and tougher.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2026 ...<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":185027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10585,6,10494],"tags":[11222,15440,3760,10160,35],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSales at Harrods exceed pre-pandemic levels despite economic downturn - TheIndustry.beauty<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Harrods' Managing Director is confident that the luxury department store would prosper in an economic downturn because \u201cthe rich get richer in a recession\u201d.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/sales-at-harrods-exceed-pre-pandemic-levels-despite-economic-downturn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sales at Harrods exceed pre-pandemic levels despite economic downturn - TheIndustry.beauty\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Harrods' Managing Director is confident that the luxury department store would prosper in an economic downturn because \u201cthe rich get richer in a recession\u201d.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/sales-at-harrods-exceed-pre-pandemic-levels-despite-economic-downturn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TheIndustry.beauty\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-07T08:00:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-07T17:40:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/harrods1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tom Shearsmith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@theindustryfash\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@theindustryfash\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom Shearsmith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/sales-at-harrods-exceed-pre-pandemic-levels-despite-economic-downturn\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/sales-at-harrods-exceed-pre-pandemic-levels-despite-economic-downturn\/\",\"name\":\"Sales at Harrods exceed pre-pandemic levels despite economic downturn - TheIndustry.beauty\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-07T08:00:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-07T17:40:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/#\/schema\/person\/0ef585178e99d23ac0b525337547c9be\"},\"description\":\"Harrods' Managing Director is confident that the luxury department store would prosper in an economic downturn because \u201cthe rich get richer in a recession\u201d.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/sales-at-harrods-exceed-pre-pandemic-levels-despite-economic-downturn\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/sales-at-harrods-exceed-pre-pandemic-levels-despite-economic-downturn\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/sales-at-harrods-exceed-pre-pandemic-levels-despite-economic-downturn\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sales at Harrods exceed pre-pandemic levels despite economic downturn\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/\",\"name\":\"TheIndustry.beauty\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/#\/schema\/person\/0ef585178e99d23ac0b525337547c9be\",\"name\":\"Tom Shearsmith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1993ae8ec37cfdfcf1fe2dc8bb0c7b8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1993ae8ec37cfdfcf1fe2dc8bb0c7b8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tom Shearsmith\"},\"description\":\"Tom Shearsmith is the Senior News & Features Writer at TheIndustry.fashion, joining the company in January 2019. Tom also produces the podcasts for TheIndustry.fashion\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sales at Harrods exceed pre-pandemic levels despite economic downturn - TheIndustry.beauty","description":"Harrods' Managing Director is confident that the luxury department store would prosper in an economic downturn because \u201cthe rich get richer in a recession\u201d.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/sales-at-harrods-exceed-pre-pandemic-levels-despite-economic-downturn\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sales at Harrods exceed pre-pandemic levels despite economic downturn - TheIndustry.beauty","og_description":"Harrods' Managing Director is confident that the luxury department store would prosper in an economic downturn because \u201cthe rich get richer in a recession\u201d.","og_url":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/sales-at-harrods-exceed-pre-pandemic-levels-despite-economic-downturn\/","og_site_name":"TheIndustry.beauty","article_published_time":"2023-03-07T08:00:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-07T17:40:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/harrods1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tom Shearsmith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@theindustryfash","twitter_site":"@theindustryfash","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tom Shearsmith","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/sales-at-harrods-exceed-pre-pandemic-levels-despite-economic-downturn\/","url":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/sales-at-harrods-exceed-pre-pandemic-levels-despite-economic-downturn\/","name":"Sales at Harrods exceed pre-pandemic levels despite economic downturn - TheIndustry.beauty","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-03-07T08:00:32+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-07T17:40:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/#\/schema\/person\/0ef585178e99d23ac0b525337547c9be"},"description":"Harrods' Managing Director is confident that the luxury department store would prosper in an economic downturn because \u201cthe rich get richer in a recession\u201d.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/sales-at-harrods-exceed-pre-pandemic-levels-despite-economic-downturn\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/sales-at-harrods-exceed-pre-pandemic-levels-despite-economic-downturn\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/sales-at-harrods-exceed-pre-pandemic-levels-despite-economic-downturn\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sales at Harrods exceed pre-pandemic levels despite economic downturn"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/","name":"TheIndustry.beauty","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/#\/schema\/person\/0ef585178e99d23ac0b525337547c9be","name":"Tom Shearsmith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1993ae8ec37cfdfcf1fe2dc8bb0c7b8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1993ae8ec37cfdfcf1fe2dc8bb0c7b8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tom Shearsmith"},"description":"Tom Shearsmith is the Senior News & Features Writer at TheIndustry.fashion, joining the company in January 2019. Tom also produces the podcasts for TheIndustry.fashion","sameAs":["https:\/\/theindustry.beauty"]}]}},"modified_by":"Antony Hawman","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218592"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218592"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218594,"href":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218592\/revisions\/218594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theindustry.beauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}