I Took The Liberty To Visit (Liberty (London))

Member Name: AJ26

Product:	Liberty (London)
Date:	07/02/09 (172 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting building, Nice Gifts

Disadvantages: Expensive, Not a wide selection of goods

Liberty is small department store in London on Great Marlborough Street just off Regent Street. It first opened in 1875 and specialised in oriental silk fabrics. It then went on to sell Liberty prints and designs and was part of the Arts and Crafts movement in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The shop is housed in an impressive country-house style building which I thought was really old but was then disappointed to read in a guidebook that it was mock-tudor and actually dates to 1925 and was built for purpose. Looks can be deceiving! Despite it not being as old as it seems it is still really impressive and the shop is worth a visit more for the building than for its actual goods.

Inside the building has been well preserved, instead of modern shop fittings and bright lighting the shop has retained all the period features. The old wooden staircases and wooden pillars remain in place. This gives the shop a lovely old charm feel and a certain quirkiness and makes it very different from all the other department stores. You wont find your modern escalators here instead it's the wooden stairs or a lift.

The shop is split into smaller rooms housing its various collections of goods. There is a lovely flower shop in the outer hallway. Inside there is a beauty department, bags (very nice designer one's with very large prices too) and accessories including patterned scarves, clothing, gifts and furniture amongst other things. Here the emphasis is on quality rather than the wide range which you would find in the other London department stores. When I visited a couple of weeks ago they seemed to be undergoing a refurbishment and some of the floors were closed off. Once the refurbishment is complete there may be a better selection of goods.

It also has some impressive window displays which are often quite cutting edge although sometimes can be quite weird too. The most recent one featured a fake (at least I hope it was fake!) dog poo amongst other things, previously they have even contained live models.

The shop is a nice place to visit and browse but I wasn't tempted to buy anything. My husband was slightly tempted by a lovely leather journal which he thought I could use to write a book about my dog which I had been talking about but at the price of £45 I suggested it might be cheaper just to use my laptop! I think if you were looking for a special gift for someone then this might be a nice place to visit for something different but not somewhere I would come to shop often.

If you are in London though its worth a visit just to see the building.

The store is open Monday to Saturday from 10am until 8pm and on a Sunday from 12pm to 6pm.

Summary: A nice place to visit but not necessarily to shop.