Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Green eyed monster after being in Harrods

302 replies

Moneyjealousy · 26/09/2023 00:33

Lighthearted (I think?!)

But this weekend I've been in London with adult DD's and we somehow ended up in Harrods champagne bar where we treated ourselves to a couple of cocktails before heading back to the nearest Wetherspoons type bar 😁

I have to say in advance that I am very lucky, I have a lovely dh, great dc all our bills are paid and even though we aren't living the high life I don't have to worry about food or heating the house.

After getting off the tube at Harrods though........OMG! Where does all the money come from?! The big houses and fancy cars outside the shop then once you get in the huge selection of jewellery/bags/clothes etc that I could never dream of affording.

Who are the people that shop there? Where do they get the money for it? How can you ever afford to buy a house and drive a Porsche across the road from Harrods?

I'm back home now in my northern house that I could never afford if it was moved 300 miles south but still have a feeling of not believing how the other half must live.

Can you afford a shopping trip at Harrods? Do you look down on people like me who pop in for a cocktail and post it on Facebook to remember it by 🤣

I'm not even really jealous I don't think it's just coming from where I do seeing such a big difference in others life styles is a bit of a culture shock.

OP posts:
Eartoday · 26/09/2023 11:05

Willa6 · 26/09/2023 10:59

I have a friend who used to work there and we loved hearing the story about his experiences with different celebrities. Simon Cowell was once of the nicest and most polite to staff, according to him.

Show quote history

They did seem to love him! Obviously you would expect a degree of fawning but they were greeting him like an old friend.

Ryeman · 26/09/2023 11:06

Designer clothes and bags etc don’t interest me so even if I had the money it’s not what I would choose to spend it on. Labels are a bit tacky imo. Property is different - it’s the one thing I’m envious of when I see a beautiful country pad, and there are loads of those where I live.

UncomfortableSofa · 26/09/2023 11:09

I know someone who worked there. She said a huge proportion of customers were wealthy wives who came often and shopped alone all day. They often didn't even arrange for collection of the purchases afterwards so staff had to track them down to send it all to them. She said they seemed sad and lonely.

KimberleyClark · 26/09/2023 11:09

Only thing I have ever bought from Harrods was a bauble for my Christmas tree. Lots of my tree decorations are travel souvenirs.

Bored1000 · 26/09/2023 11:12

Been there a few times and yes everything is very expensive but also I never really saw anything that I liked either, eg I don’t like most designer bags, In my opinion they look tacky and quite common now as so many influencers / people in the media have them.
Harrods is for the people who like to flash their wealth, very nouveau riche.

ShirleyPhallus · 26/09/2023 11:13

UncomfortableSofa · 26/09/2023 11:09

I know someone who worked there. She said a huge proportion of customers were wealthy wives who came often and shopped alone all day. They often didn't even arrange for collection of the purchases afterwards so staff had to track them down to send it all to them. She said they seemed sad and lonely.

Ooooh more MN bingo - rich people being sad and lonely

TheShinmeister · 26/09/2023 11:16

DonaNobisPacem · 26/09/2023 09:27

It was always a terrible place to work. A friend of mine worked as Christmas staff there in the 90s and would hide in the stock room when Fayed did his rounds in the morning, as he used to select girls to come up to his offices and try to assault them.

Show quote history

Oh jeez that’s terrible. I was 17 straight out of school and picked on mercilessly by two older women in the admin office. Awful place. Even if I won the lottery I wouldn’t shop there x

lotterharry · 26/09/2023 11:19

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 26/09/2023 11:00

Ahhh OP, I went in for the first time last year and was blown away by how so
many customers were just dripping with money! I felt a bit flat about my life for a short time after I'll be honest. Confused

But yes, agree it's another world and actually when you think of how that wealth has been amassed it's not all through good means.

On the other hand we live close to Birmingham and go for an over night stay every year and one thing I love to do is mooch about Harvey Nicks. Luxury products I'll never afford but thes staff are wonderful. So warm and friendly (and please Brum MNers I mean this with affection that I'm sure your accent helps, it's such a lovely one!) one chap even slant ages looking in the stock room for some amazingly reduced adidas gazelles for me, he was determined I'd go home with them!

I always get myself a little more affordable treat from the cosmetic department then off I trot to their lovely bar for a few cocktails. Feels so special but the lovely staff make me feel like I belong there as much as any other customer.

Screw going to Harrods then when I go to to London again ha ha I feel like that when I'm in next 😂😂😂

SherbetDips · 26/09/2023 11:35

I could afford to shop in harrods, but I’d prefer to save and invest my wealth for the future. People who spend that kind of money on a daily basis are in a whole other league.

CoughingMajoress · 26/09/2023 11:54

I work in that area and it's almost entirely people from the Gulf States who have serious money due to oil. Plus extremely wealthy Chinese businesspeople and their families.

Notlaughingalot · 26/09/2023 11:55

I just looked at the Harrod's website. Their Manuka honey is £775 a jar. Must stock up then....

Elfandwellbeing · 26/09/2023 11:58

I went recently because it was raining and thought it would be a nice way to keep dry ! The majority of people there looked Arab or Chinese, I hope it’s ok to say that …. Dripping in jewels and gems. Very pretty women dressed to perfection. Beautiful, what I noticed is that many of these people were simply rude and absolutely no eye contact whatsoever, just hallow almost arrogant, and I wouldn’t want to be part of that.
I still think about the jewelry shop in Stratford Westfield where I saw identical looking jewels and gems … all costume jewelry.. so don’t assume it’s all diamonds.

AzureBlue99 · 26/09/2023 12:00

Someone mentioned all the property being snapped up by Chinese investors by the block.There are big new blocks of flats in Battersea, Westminster and Victoria - a lot of them empty. In Victoria it is particularly poignant because of the vast numbers of homeless people who sleep there. The government should do something about this but they won't. Presumably some of the government will be benefiting in some way personally.

CrushingOnRubies · 26/09/2023 12:33

KimberleyClark · 26/09/2023 11:09

Only thing I have ever bought from Harrods was a bauble for my Christmas tree. Lots of my tree decorations are travel souvenirs.

I have a Harrods bauble. It's the outline of the building in glitter. 😁😁

Lampzade · 26/09/2023 12:37

ShirleyPhallus · 26/09/2023 11:13

Ooooh more MN bingo - rich people being sad and lonely

Show quote history

Yep

Lampzade · 26/09/2023 12:39

ShirleyPhallus · 26/09/2023 11:13

Ooooh more MN bingo - rich people being sad and lonely

Show quote history

Soon we will get a full house. Don’t think we have had the husband who is cheating with his secretary yet

LOSTAN · 26/09/2023 13:06

And Nigeria and more recently other parts of eastern europe.

Mummyratbag · 26/09/2023 13:43

Went there on a trip to London when the kids were younger. There was an 80k TV.... I actually felt dizzy being close to it with small(ish) children and couldn't get away quick enough..

Went back recently, I felt nothing, no spark of awe, joy or even envy.. but then I don't have the shoes and handbag gene so not an ounce of excitement..

SpaceRaiders · 26/09/2023 13:53

if my family had stayed put (Kings Cross/Bloomsbury) area, they’d be sitting on goldmines right now.

Respectfully, I think the majority on this thread are talking about the super rich, the 1% of the 1%. Billionaires aren’t living in Kings Cross. If i had 50 million budget that’s the last place I’d choose to live.

Mrsjayy · 26/09/2023 13:54

If the Tvs are 80k that's probably why they asked if we were lost 😂

FictionalCharacter · 26/09/2023 14:08

CosyFanTucci · 26/09/2023 02:16

It’s SW1, it’s going to be Arab, Russian money, not British. The average Londoner would feel just as excluded.

Yep. The money is from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Russia.

DelurkingLawyer · 26/09/2023 14:23

HundredMilesAnHour · 26/09/2023 10:20

Exactly this! 30 years ago as a grad in my first job, I had my (first ever) make up done at the Clinique counter in Harrods. I was working nearby and needed to look smart. I often popped in to get clothes or houseware or shoes. They used to have great sales. I once cycled home across central London in sweaty gym kit (I'd been doing British Military Fitness in Hyde Park before going to the Harrods shoe sale) balancing 3 Harrods carrier bags with shoe boxes on my handlebars. 😆I still use my favourite (sadly discontinued) Missoni plates that I bought half price in the Harrods sale. As a Londoner, it used to be somewhere you'd pop into for a browse and a treat. For years I bought most of my underwear from there, and my jeans. Service was always amazing.

However, since the Qataris took over it has changed completely. No more sales bargains. Instead it's just a temple to super-rich bling and tourists. I popped in briefly just before Christmas as I was staying nearby and it was hell on earth. Downstairs was wall to wall tourists just staring and milling. I got out as quickly as I could.

Show quote history

I said much the same upthread. It was a proper department store. Thinking about it the disparity seems greater now because as it has abandoned the middle market, stores like Peter Jones have gone in the opposite direction.

We had our wedding list at Peter Jones 20 years ago and at that time there was a vast choice of traditional china and crystal at all price ranges. Years later we broke a glass and went back to PJ to replace it. Many of the brands, including the one we wanted, were no longer stocked.

SisterAgatha · 26/09/2023 14:33

SpaceRaiders · 26/09/2023 13:53

if my family had stayed put (Kings Cross/Bloomsbury) area, they’d be sitting on goldmines right now.

Respectfully, I think the majority on this thread are talking about the super rich, the 1% of the 1%. Billionaires aren’t living in Kings Cross. If i had 50 million budget that’s the last place I’d choose to live.

They would be very rich in comparison to say, someone with a three bed terrace in Basildon who visits London once a decade and thinks harrods is a shop for people with money who live locally.

Incidentally this is how my friend has three central London houses, including SW7. She’s not 1% but as I said, her lawnmower costs more than my car. “Rich” is subjective.

if I was a billionaire I’d still choose to live in Arnos Grove 🤣

SpaceRaiders · 26/09/2023 14:50

@SisterAgatha I get what you mean about rich being subjective! I think a nice 7 bed Georgian terrace in south Ken would do me nicely.

These days simply having a house worth 1mil doesn’t really count for much. Although nice to have, it’s meaningless because you can’t spend it. What matters is multiple sources of income. Having an income of in excess of 400/500k+ per annum especially compounded over many years is where it’s at. I suspect my views are skewed by virtue of living/working in the south east and being adjacent to certain circles.