Harrods opened its first outlet in London It is the first store of its kind for the British retailer and will remain open until March 2021

The retail crisis triggered by the lockdown also hit Harrods hard, which last week announced the dismissal of 14% of its staff. To ease the crowds of their spaces during the sales season, as well as to fund the inventory accumulated during quarantine, the retailer has therefore decided to launch Harrods Outlet, the first initiative of its kind for the UK luxury department store that opened last Friday in the Westfield area of London, and will be followed by the concept store H Beauty which will have a location at Lakeside Mall in Essex in September and another in Milton Keynes in February.

Harrods' move is unprecedented and comes at a critical time for the department store world that has seen famous names such as Macy's, Sears, Nordstrom and JCPenney declare multimillion-dollar losses and lay off hundreds, if not thousands, of workers. As Harrods has shown, differentiation and even aggressive expansion in sectors such as outlets could be a lifeline for luxury malls, attracting new groups of customers and providing ad hoc proposals, such as venues dedicated to beauty products only. The new project will also save the jobs of Harrods employees, which will be funneled to the new venues. Among the retailer's new projects is also The Residence, a villa-shop located in Shanghai, designed for the personal shopping experiences of high-end customers.