The fruit and flowers section on the ground floor of Fortnum and Mason.
Fortnum & Mason, often shortened to just "Fortnum's" is a famous department store and Royal Warrant holder, situated in central London. Its headquarters are located at 181 Piccadilly where it was established in 1707 by William Fortnum and Hugh Mason. It is privately owned by Wittington Investments Ltd.
Fortnum and Mason is recognised internationally for its high quality goods and as an iconic British symbol. It is renowned for its "quintessential English charm" and is one of the most famous stores in the world, has held many Royal Warrants for over 150 years and is the shop most closely associated with the British Royal Family.
Founded as a grocery store, Fortnum's reputation has been built on supplying quality food to Britain's upper classes. Though it developed into a department store, it continues to focus on stocking a variety of exotic, speciality and also 'basic' provisions.[1] It is also the location of a celebrated tea shop and has Britain's only hair salon dedicated to long hair.[2]
History
In 1761, William Fortnum's grandson Charles went into the service of Queen Charlotte and the Royal Court affiliation led to an increase in business. The store began to stock speciality items, namely ready-to-eat luxury meals such as fresh poultry or game served in aspic jelly.[3]
During the Napoleonic Wars, the emporium supplied dried fruit, spices and other preserves to the British officers and during the Victorian era it was frequently called upon to provide food for prestigious Court functions. Queen Victoria even sent shipments of Fortnum and Mason's concentrated beef tea to Florence Nightingale's hospitals during the Crimean War.[4]
In 1851 Fortnum & Mason first created the Scotch egg and in 1886, after having bought the entire stock of five cases of a new product made by a Mr H.J. Heinz, became the first store in the world to stock tins of baked beans.[4]
The store was acquired by Canadian billionaire W. Garfield Weston, who became its Chairman. In 1964, he commissioned a four-ton clock to be installed above the main entrance of the store as a tribute to its founders. Every hour, four-foot high models of William Fortnum and Hugh Mason emerge and bow to each other, with chimes and 18th century-style music playing in the background. Since Garfield Weston's death in 1978, the store has been run by his granddaughters, Jana Khayat and Kate Weston Hobhouse and the Managing Director is Beverley Aspinall.
The store underwent a £24 million refurbishment in 2007, celebrating 300 years of existence.[5]
Hampers
Fortnum & Mason is famed for its loose-leaf tea and its world-renowned luxury picnic hampers, which the store first distributed to Victorian High Society for events such as the Henley Regatta and Ascot Races. These hampers — which contain luxury items such as Stilton cheese, champagne, Quails eggs and smoked salmon — remain popular with England's upper classes today, especially at Christmas time and can cost (as of 2008) anything from £35 up to £25,000.[6] Its Christmas orders are also renowned for being delivered by horse and carriage, complete with a liveried driver dressed in Victorian clothes.[6]
Account card
They also have an account card, but it is only supplied to 'favoured customers' and reputedly cannot be obtained by application. Previously, account customers used to just give their names to the frock-coat wearing staff and signed for their goods, with the monthly bill being sent on afterwards. Some of its most famous, regular and non-Royal customers and account card holders include Terence Stamp, Jane Asher, Marc Sinden, Elizabeth Hurley.
See also
References
External links
Coordinates: 51°30′30″N 0°08′18″W / 51.5083°N 0.1384°W / 51.5083; -0.1384
