London Shops

London Shops

Many people like to shop in London to buy stuff such as food, antiques, farm products, furniture, cars, paintings, and other items. Some may want to shop in the city to get bargains or to get exclusive items that they can only get in London shops. They may want to shop in London as they want to enjoy the retail industry in the city. They may want to get a high technology stuff or cheap or luxury items they may want to shop at the famous shops in London.

The City of London is a geographically small city within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which, along with Westminster, the modern conurbation grew. The City’s boundaries have remained almost constant since the Middle Ages, and hence it is now only a tiny part of the much larger London metropolis. It is often referred to as the City or the Square Mile, as it is almost exactly one square mile in area.

london shops

Retailing consists of the sale of goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store or kiosk, or by post, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be individuals or businesses. In commerce, a retailer buys goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers or importers, either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells smaller quantities to the end-user. Retail establishments are often called shops or stores. Retailers are at the end of the supply chain. Manufacturing marketers see the process of retailing as a necessary part of their overall distribution strategy. Shops may be on residential streets, shopping streets with few or no houses, or in a shopping center or mall, but are mostly found in the central business district. Shopping streets may be for pedestrians only. Sometimes a shopping street has a partial or full roof to protect customers from precipitation.

In the mediaeval period the City was the full extent of London, and distinct from the nearby but separate settlement of Westminster, which became the City of Westminster. The term London now refers to a much larger conurbation containing both cities. The City of London is still part of London's city centre, but most of London's metropolitan functions apart from financial services are centred on the West End. The City is today a major business and financial centre, ranking on a par with many of the top finance cities.

The City of London has been administered separately since 886, when Alfred the Great appointed his son-in-law Earl Æthelred of Mercia as Governor of London. Alfred made sure that there was suitable accommodation for merchants from northwest Europe, which was then extended to traders from the Baltic and Italy.

The City developed its own code of law for the mercantile classes, developing such autonomy that Sir Laurence Gomme regarded the City as a separate Kingdom making its own laws. The City was composed of wards governed by Aldermen, who chaired the Wardmotes. There was a folkmoot for the whole of the city held in the shadows of St Paul's Cathedral. In the tenth century, Athelstan permitted eight mints to be established, compared with six in his capital, Winchester, indicating the wealth of the city.

Following the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror marched on London, to Southwark and failed to get across London Bridge or to defeat the Londoners. He eventually crossed the River Thames at Wallingford, pillaging the land as he went. Rather than continuing the war Edgar Ætheling, Edwin of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria surrendered at Berkhamsted. William rewarded London in granting the citizens a charter in 1075; the City of London was one of the few institutions where the English retained some authority.

William ensured against attack by building three castles nearby, to keep the Londoners subdued: Tower of London, Baynard's Castle, Montfichet's Castle

St Paul's Cathedral, 1896.
30 St Mary Axe. Scenes of contrast between new and old are common in the City.
Temple Church; there are over 100 churches in the City.

In 1132, Henry I recognised full County status for the City, and by 1141 the whole body of the citizenry was considered to constitute a single community. This was the origin of the City of London Corporation.

The City burned nearly to the ground twice, first in 1212 and then again in the Great Fire of London in 1666. Both of these fires were referred to as the Great Fire.

The City elected four members to the unreformed House of Commons, which it retained after the Reform Act 1832 and into the 20th century. Today it is included wholly in the Cities of London and Westminster constituency, and statute requires that it not be divided between two neighbouring areas. An attempt was made in 1894 to amalgamate the City and the surrounding County of London, but it did not succeed.

The City's population fell rapidly in the 19th century and through most of the 20th century as people moved outwards to London's vast suburbs and many houses were demolished to make way for modern office blocks. The largest residential section of the City today is the Barbican Estate, constructed between 1965 and 1976. Here a major proportion of the City's population now live. The Museum of London is located here, as are a number of other services provided by the Corporation.

The 1970s saw the construction of tall office buildings including the 600ft, 42 storey Natwest Tower, which became the first skyscraper in the UK. Office space development has intensified especially in the central, northern and eastern parts of the City, with a second (30 St Mary Axe) and most recently a third skyscraper (Broadgate Tower) being built.

Paternoster Square is an urban development, owned by the Mitsubishi Estate Co., next to St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London, England. In 1942 the area, which takes its name from Paternoster Row, centre of the London publishing trade, was devastated by aerial bombardment in The Blitz during World War II.

The actual city of London city has only a small population the millions of inhabitants actually live in the metropolis of London.

Exchange Alley or Change Alley is a narrow alleyway connecting shops and coffeehouses in an old neighborhood of the City of London, England, bounded by Lombard Street, Cornhill and Birchin Lane. It served as a convenient shortcut from the Royal Exchange to the Post Office. The shops included ship chandlers, makers of instruments for navigation such as telescopes, and goldsmiths from Lombardy.
The West End is London's main entertainment and shopping district, with locations such as Oxford Street, Leicester Square, Covent Garden and Piccadilly Circus acting as tourist magnets.

Covent Garden is a district in London, England, located on the easternmost parts of the City of Westminster and the southwest corner of the London Borough of Camden. The area is dominated by shopping, street performers and entertainment facilities and contains an entrance to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, which is also widely known simply as "Covent Garden", and the bustling Seven Dials area.

Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in London, England in the City of Westminster. With many shops, it is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as the most dense. The street derives its name from being part of the old London—Oxford Road which began at Newgate, City of London. Today the road forms part of the A40, although it is not signposted as this, like other roads in central London. During the 19th century, the area became known for its shops. It runs for approximately a mile and a half from Marble Arch at the north east corner of Hyde Park, through Oxford Circus to St Giles' Circus, at the intersection with Charing Cross Road and Tottenham Court Road. Eastwards, the road then becomes New Oxford Street until it runs into High Holborn. Oxford Street intersects with other London roads including Park Lane, New Bond Street and Regent Street. West of Marble Arch, Oxford Street becomes Bayswater Road. Then up and over Notting Hill and along Holland Park Avenue until it becomes the Uxbridge Road at Shepherd's Bush Roundabout. At Uxbridge it becomes the Oxford – London Road again, all the way to Oxford, save for some short sections where it has adopted a local name. Oxford Street is home to major department stores and numerous brands' flagship stores, as well as hundreds of smaller shops. Oxford Street, a shopping street nearly 1 mile long, which makes it the longest shopping street.

The West End of London is an area of Central London, England, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, businesses, headquarters and the commercial West End theatres. Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross. For strategic planning the area is identified as one of two international centres in London.

Harrods is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. Harrods was established in 1834 in London’s East End, when founder Charles Henry Harrod set up a wholesale grocery in Stepney, with a special interest in tea. In 1849, to escape the filth of the inner city and to capitalise on trade to the Great Exhibition of 1851 in nearby Hyde Park, Harrod took over a small shop in the district of Knightsbridge, on the site of the current store. Beginning in a single room employing two assistants and a messenger boy, Harrod’s son Charles Digby Harrod built the business into a thriving retail operation selling medicines, perfumes, stationery, fruit, and vegetables. Harrods rapidly expanded, acquired the adjoining buildings, and employed one hundred people by 1880.

Some famous shops that are in the city or have been in the city include ; Acme Attractions, Apple Boutique, Army & Navy Stores (United Kingdom), Bathstore, Ben's Cookies, Berry Brothers and Rudd, Biba, Browns (Fashion Boutique), Capital gardens, Cecil Court, Chappell of Bond Street, Cramer & Co, Debenhams, Dickins & Jones, Dover Street Market, Ede and Ravenscroft, Edward Sexton, Floris of London, Fortnum & Mason, Foyles, Gamages, Geo. F Trumper, Hamleys, Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Hatchards, Henry Poole & Co, Hield, I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet, Jack O'Shea's, John Lewis (department store), La Galiya, Liberty (department store), Lillywhites, John Lobb Bootmaker, Morleys (department store), Neal's Yard Dairy, Peter Jones (department store), Poetry Bookshop, Pride & Clark, Roberson Wine, Robert Dyas, Roberts Cycles, Roomes Stores, SEX (boutique), Selfridges, Simpsons of Piccadilly, Space.NK, Swan & Edgar, Waring & Gillow, Watkins Books Ltd, Whiteleys

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