How Selfridges Plans to Lock in the 1%

LONDON — Can spa treatments and sea bass ceviche lock in the loyalty of Selfridges' top-spending clients? The landmark department store on London’s Oxford Street is set to find out, as it opens the doors to its new member’s club, dubbed 40 Duke, this week.

Complete with a private restaurant — the first permanent outpost of popular catering company Cellar Society — treatment rooms, a secure showroom for high jewellery and watches, a terrace café and 24 personal shopping cabins, the 25,000-square-foot space is Selfridges’ most important renovation since 2016, when it installed its sprawling handbag gallery.

Access to the club will be reserved for clients who have “unlocked” top-tier status in the store’s new loyalty scheme by spending as much as £20,000 ($26,800) annually. Members of the next tier down will also be able to reserve visits to 40 Duke subject to availability.

The move comes as VICs (very important clients) continue to drive the luxury market amid a multi-year downturn in sales, particularly to less wealthy shoppers. Brands including Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Dior have built out private shopping suites and even standalone “by appointment” stores in order to court big spenders away from the general public.

Deepening ties to wealthy shoppers is a particularly urgent priority for Selfridges, which has taken a hit from the removal of tax-free shopping in the UK. Many buyers from Asia and the Middle East have since defected to Paris or Milan for shopping trips, stymying Selfridges post-coronavirus recovery. Revenues slumped 7 percent to £775 million in 2024, its most recent annual filing. The UK has also lost its edge in attracting ultra-wealthy residents from abroad as policymakers scrapped tax advantages for expats.

“We’ve become very focused on really getting to know our customers. Before, you could afford for footfall to be slightly anonymous since you knew there would always be more,” said Leonie Foster, Selfridges’ chief operating officer.

Meanwhile, UK clients are gradually learning to take advantage of tax-free shopping schemes on the Continent, which they have been eligible for since Brexit took effect, piling on pressure for UK retailers to provide a unique experience that would discourage discount-seeking abroad.

Selfridge’s loyalty scheme, launched last year, and the new members’ club that will serve as its pinnacle perk are about “having the ability to connect with the customer in a very personalised way,” Foster said. Members rack up points (“keys,” in the scheme’s parlance) according to how much they spend, as well as simply by regularly visiting the store or attending its events. “It was important for us to have a loyalty proposition that really represented the Selfridges brand, which has always been about a place to spend not just money but time,” Foster added.

The programme echoes the loyalty schemes that have been a pillar of the playbooks of legacy airlines as they grapple with the rise of low-cost carriers. Lounges, faster security lines and even private terminals for first-class ticketholders have helped the likes of Delta and Air France lock frequent flyers into a single airline or alliance.

Pinning the loyalty scheme to a lounge with the trappings of a members club is a timely play by Selfridges. Such clubs have proliferated in recent years, particularly in London and New York, with members-only destinations now organised around everything from sports and dining to emerging obsessions like biohacking and longevity (to an extent that the space starts to look saturated).

The club will also allow Selfridges to deepen its partnerships with key luxury brands — offering them new ways to connect with the store’s spendiest clients: Louis Vuitton high jewellery, Rolex, Dior womenswear, Khaite and Victoria Beckham are all set to host events at 40 Duke in the coming months.

A First Look Inside 40 Duke Street

The Business of Fashion had a first look at the space ahead of its opening Thursday. The entrance at 40 Duke Street will be familiar to employees and brand partners, as this part of the store used to house Selfridges corporate offices including those of its buying team. Another entrance via private elevator leads to the car park for customers who need extra privacy or security as they come and go.

The reception area opens onto the restaurant on one side, and to an open lounge space outfitted with rugs, sofas and decorations supplied by luxury furniture showroom The Future Perfect and Italian glassmaker Venini on the other. Two long hallways lead to the private shopping rooms — all of which have natural light and some of which have ensuite bathrooms.

Showroom spaces primed for brand takeovers include a watches and jewellery space — designed with the specifications of security companies and insurers in mind — and a round fashion “gallery” for collection previews. The bar, chairs and tables on the terrace café were conceived so they could accommodate temporary hoarding and slipcovers for future brand takeovers.

“This space responds to the growth of personal shopping — which has only become more and more important at Selfridges — while at the same time really keeping in mind that people want to do more than just shop. They’re spending more on all sorts of lifestyle experiences, engaging more than ever with services and events. Then for partners, we’re giving brands a chance to show up as themselves,” Foster said.

“We just don’t think this exists anywhere else.”