First, I need to say that I’m not impartial. I worked at Harrods in the early 90s on the shop floor selling jeans. What a saw was a company trading on an old name to rip off tourists. Therefore, I’m biased.
BBC News – Mohammed Al Fayed sells Harrods store to Qatar Holdings.
So he’s sold it. After a quarter of a century of playing with the toy he’s moved on. I have to say that I’m surprised. I thought that he basically saw himself as inseparable from the shop.
There are some very odd parts to the Al Fayed palace. Including the memorial to Diana and Dodi and I wonder if they’ll stay. However, there is a bigger question; was it a good investment?
From the BBC article…
“Our reporter added that Mr Al Fayed’s motivation for selling was unclear, but the price tag was not inconsiderable in a post-recessionary market.”
Actually, that looks very cheap to me. Remember, there a massive bit of London real-estate in that price.
So from the same article…
“A colourful and controversial figure, Mr Al Fayed acquired Harrods in 1985 following a £615m takeover bid.”
What’s that in todays money?
£1,400,000,000 using the retail price index
£1,350,000,000 using the GDP deflator
£1,980,000,000 using the average earnings
£2,260,000,000 using the per capita GDP
£2,450,000,000 using the share of GDP
It looks to me like Al Fayed has lost serious money from his investment. That the value of Harrods has not kept growth with the GDP of the host country is a massive verdict on his bad management.
Seriously, Harrods is only worth that?