The spirit of London

A few years ago, one of the most renowned pet shops in the world was located in Knightsbridge in London. Pets Kingdom on the fourth floor of the famous luxury department store Harrods was one of the city's tourist magnets. The pet department had a long tradition. Opened in 1917, it constantly attracted headlines over the years. Canadian actress Beatrice Lillie is said to have given the British actor and playwright Noël Coward an alligator, bought from the store, as a gift, while former American president Ronald Reagan once ordered a baby elephant from Harrods. The end came for the once world-renowned pet department in 2014, when the Qatari owners of the retail temple decided to close Pets Kingdom and replace it with a new women's fashion floor. In its later years the department of Harrods was the constant target of animal rights groups, who took considerable offence at the dog leashes studded with flawless diamonds and the exquisite cat beds. This may have been one of the factors that hastened the demise of Pets Kingdom.

Most other pet shops in the centre of London have never aspired to such a media circus around their business. They sport names such as Trims & Treats, Bow Wow London or Mungo & Maud. Many of the myriad shops specialising in pet products in the suburbs of London have retail areas of less than 100 m2. If they are not grooming salons or dog boutiques, they are corner shops that offer a basic assortment of pet items for the capital city's pet owners, and they are visited by local pet enthusiasts, tourists and business travellers alike. Many of these shops have specialised in unusual accessories or in upmarket, gift-wrapped dog treats. Others offer a range that covers almost all product categories but differs from chains such as Pets at Home in that other brands are stocked.
Large-format pet stores do not exist in the centre of London. One of the few exceptions to this is the Pets at Home branch at 85 Camden Road, which is relatively close to the heart of the capital. This is not so surprising, as property prices have probably declined slightly, due not least to the impending Brexit. For retailers and especially independent traders, however, prices are still virtually unaffordable. As a result, even the big supermarket chains only have small outlets in the centre of London, as it is not possible to operate otherwise.
The number of pets in London is also far smaller than in other parts of England. According to…