Harry Gordon Selfridge, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Harry Gordon Selfridge

America born English businessman

Date of Birth: 11-Jan-1858

Place of Birth: Ripon, Wisconsin, United States

Date of Death: 08-May-1947

Profession: business magnate

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Harry Gordon Selfridge, Sr.
(11 January 1858 – 8 May 1947) was an American-British retail magnate who founded the London-based department store Selfridges.
His 20-year leadership of Selfridges led to his becoming one of the most respected and wealthy retail magnates in the United Kingdom.
He was known as the 'Earl of Oxford Street'.Born in Ripon, Wisconsin, Selfridge delivered newspapers and left school at 14 when he found work at a bank in Jackson, Michigan.
After a series of jobs, Selfridge found a position at Marshall Field's in Chicago, where he stayed for the next 25 years.
In 1890, he married Rose Buckingham, of the prominent Chicago Buckingham family. In 1906, following a trip to London, Selfridge invested £400,000 in his own department store in what was then the unfashionable western end of Oxford Street.
The new store opened to the public on 15 March 1909, and Selfridge remained chairman until he retired in 1941.
In 1947, he died of bronchial pneumonia at age 89.