Unimpressed with the quality of existing British retailers, he noticed that the large stores in London had not adopted the latest selling ideas that were being used in the United States.

[6] The building was an early example in the UK of the use of a steel frame, five storeys high with three basement levels and a roof terrace, originally laid out to accommodate 100 departments.

[8] Using as a basis the regulations which covered the similarly-designed London docklands warehouses, Bylander then agreed changes which enabled greater spans within lesser beam dimensions due to the use of steel over stone.

[8] American architect Francis Swales, who trained at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, was briefed to design the frontispiece.

[10] The complete building opened fully in 1928, and resultantly through the use of supporting spandrel steel panels, the scale of the glass panes within the main entrance could be greatly enlarged.

[citation needed] The final design of the building completed in 1928, although classical in visible style and frontage, was thoroughly modern in its steel frame construction.

Initial visitors included Prime Minister Winston Churchill, to enable secure communications with the President of the United States, although later extensions were installed to both 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet War Rooms.

[15] Rumours persist of a tunnel built from Selfridges to the embassy so that personnel could move between the two in safety, with interrogation cells for prisoners hewn from the resultant uneven space available.

Created by Sam Taylor-Wood, it showed a gathering of well-known pop and cultural figures of the time, including Sir Elton John.

[18][19] The roof terrace reopened again for the first time since in July 2011, for a promotional event staged by Truvia as part of their UK launch.

A canteen in the SWOD basement area (see above) was massively damaged, with eight American servicemen killed and 32 injured, as well as ten civilian deaths and seven injuries.

[18][19] By 2010, only three of the four major pre–World War II Oxford Street retailers—Selfridges, House of Fraser and John Lewis—survive in retail, while Bourne & Hollingsworth and Peter Robinson (acquired in 1946 by Burton's), are no longer trading.

[4] It claims to contain the UK's largest beauty department,[14] and Europe's busiest doorway which siphons 250,000 people a week past the Louis Vuitton concession on to Oxford Street.

When the building opened, Harry Selfridge initiated a "signature" window which was signed by all of the stars and famous people who came to shop at the store.

[14] When Alannah Weston became Creative Director after the purchase by her family in 2003, she approached artist Alison Jackson to put her trademark Tony Blair and David Beckham lookalikes in the windows.

The resultant display brought traffic to a standstill, with the Metropolitan Police finally insisting they stop the project because it was clogging up Oxford Street.

[26] Expanded under the Sears group to include branches in Oxford, Manchester and Birmingham,[27] in 2003 the chain was acquired by Canada's Galen Weston for £598 million.

[29] In early 2012, Selfridges commissioned Italian architect Renzo Piano (responsible for London's The Shard skyscraper), to work on an extension to the 1909 department store.