175

There are also new indoor shopping complexes, like Whiteleys in Bayswa- ter and Hay’s Galleria near London Bridge station, which allow you to eat as well as shop in a comfortable environment.

Bond Street and Sloane Street offer the finest international names. For a chic, designer outfit look for British names: Katherine Hamnett, Bella Freud and Vivienne Westwood.

Burberrys in the Haymarket, Simpsons of Piccadilly and Aquascutum in Regent Street provide the ultimate in elegant English style and for a tradition­al look, shoes, hats and suits can be made to order by the tailors of Savile Row and Jermyn Street.

For a different shopping experience, you could try unearthing treasures at one of London’t markets, try Camden Passage, Portobello Road or Petticoat Lane. At Covent Garden, stalls and small shops sell designer clothes, books, arts, crafts, decorative items and antiques.

76 Learn about the most famous British shops.

The Body Shop sells perfumes, soap, shampoo and skin-care products for men and women. The shops sell good, cheap products in attractive surroundings.

Dillons — first opened in 1936 as the bookshop to the University of Lon­don. Dillons is now a chain of 49 high-quality modern bookshops. They are often to be found in large buildings of traditional architecture, with modern hi- tech interriors. Dillons’ image is one of academic excellence and they are keen to be associated with the older university.

Foyle’s is one of London’s largest bookshops. The shop is well known for its wide range of books, its confusing lay-out, and its assistants, many of whom are foreign students who can’t speak English.

Harrods is the most famous London’s department store. Harrods has about 230 departments, among them 16 food halls and 34 for fashion. The store runs a library, has a bank, arrange funerals, sightseeing tours, has a kennel for custom­ers’ dogs and its own water supply and electricity generators. 40% of Harrods’ business is to foreign customers and there is a total of 50,000 customers a day.

Marks and Spencer is a chain of department stores which sell men’s and women’s clothing, home furnishing, plants and food. Today there are 280 Marks and Spencer stores in Britain, and a total of 600 company-owned stores world­wide. Marks and Spencer sells 5% of Britain’s food and 16% of its clothing. Its clothing is traditional in design and good value for money. Its food is expen­sive, of high quality and great choice.

Next is a chain of popular fashion clothes shops for men and women. It became famous for the suits which were worn by the businessmen and busi­nesswomen in the beginning of the 1980s. Next provided a cheap education in style and fashion that had not been available to the majority of people before.