Harvey Nichols is one of my favourite shops in London. I love its contemporary-luxe niche and the fact that it shows great support for young british talent- it sells relatively unknown brands like Michael Van Der Ham along side Lanvin, has five different ladies footwear departments, a dungeon of suaveness for menswear that sells brands like J.Lindberg and Pal Zileri, and its outdoor fifth floor cafe is a joy in the spring summer months.
The Fifth Floor in Harvey Nichols in particular is one of my favourite places to shop on occasion, not only because of its food market that sells my niece and nephew’s favourite Lucky Charms and Oreo cake mix but also because of its Wineshop. The cellar style space with wooden floors and vast selection of wines, spirits, champagne, port, exclusive collectors bottle vodka etc. The price range is as varied as the selection- very, very. One of the best red wines in the world, Viña Zorzal, retails at around £9, Harvey Nichols own Rosé champagne comes in quarter, half and whole bottle and is possibly one of the more delicious tasting champagnes but don’t take my word, try it. Or better still seek a second opinion. José.
More than its widely varied stock, its the service that keeps me coming back to the Harvey Nichols wine shop. More specifically, Jose the wineshop assistant. Every member of staff I’ve encountered here has been exemplary but Jose is the secret weapon. A fountain of knowledge, he can talk you through anything- white, red, prosecco, port, champagne, all kinds of champagne, decades old scottish whiskey… you name it, Jose knows it.
At the end of the day, its not enough to like working in a place, its the enjoyment and the satisfaction derived from providing such exemplary service and its immediately evident that this is a guy who not only enjoys his work and takes pride in it, but also gets great satisfaction in delivering the service, something we don’t see enough of in the retail industry. Cheers to that.