Whiteleys is currently closed for redevelopment. It is due to reopen in 2022.
Shop until you drop at London’s first official department store, considered the height of luxury when it was opened in 1911 (the original Whiteleys department store in Westbourne Grove burned down in 1897).
Today’s largely mainstream tenants are at odds with the refined Edwardian structure – its marble floors, huge glass atrium and impressive La Scala staircase mean the place sometimes gets used in film shoots (it features in both Love Actually and Closer). The mainly mid-range high street shops include Zara, Gap, H&M and E&A Moda, and there’s also an eight-screen Odeon cinema and a branch of the upmarket bowling chain All Star Lanes.