Store Design and Visual Merchandising - #15

This morning we had our British Life and Culture class at 10:00. We gave our final presentations today. Before our trip, each person picked a place that they were excited to visit in London. We all had to give short presentations about the place to the group before we left. I chose Selfridges. I didn't know much about it, except that it was a large department store and that it had won the Best Department Store in the World Award for the second time in a row. I had researched the store to find out about it's history but I didn't really know what it'd be like. We actually went to Selfridges during our first Store Design and Visual Merchandising class so I got to experience it early on. The department store itself was really cool and unique but at the end of the day, it was just a department store. However, they have all these special events going on this summer. They have this big celebration called the Big British Bang, which celebrates the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics. The three parts to the celebration are the Big British Shop, the Big Yellow Shop, and the Golf and Tea Party on the roof. These special events were my favorite part and really set Selfridges apart from every other department store. So I focused my presentation on these events. I liked hearing about other people's places they visited too. Although, many people were disappointed with their places so I felt like I experienced them enough through their pictures and didn't actually need to go.

After class, we had lunch at the Farmer's Market that was outside behind the building. Emily and I got hamburgers again and I think they were the same ones that were at the Real Foods Market that we had been to before. They were so good. The best food I've eaten in London has been from these markets. When we finished lunch, we all road the train to Greenwich for our day trip. The area just became a Royal Borough, which I thought was cool. We had a tour with Sean and saw many things around Greenwich. We even saw them setting up an equestrian center for the Olympics there. We also saw the Old Royal Naval College and the National Maritime Museum. I was disappointed we couldn't walk up to the meridian, which was closed because of the Olympics.

After the tour, we walked around the area a little while and went to the market. This market was very different than all the others. There weren't many vendors there. They all had knick knacks and odds and ends. It kind of felt like a yard sale at some of the tables because everything was so random. However, they had a lot of costume jewelry, which was fun to look at. Mary said the town is trying really hard to keep the market the way it is. Many of the markets are turning corporate and all of the vendors are selling the same thing. But this market is different because each person's things are so eclectic.