Harrods to launch private members’ club in Shanghai
You can always count on the ultra-rich. Harrods, the luxury department store, will launch its first private members’ club in Shanghai later this year, as it bets its future growth on China’s wealthiest despite increasing economic uncertainty and rising youth unemployment in the country. The new club, called The Residence, will be located on the second floor of the city’s Cha House, a building where Harrods already has a public tea room and bar. The club will include a Gordon Ramsay restaurant; annual fees will start at £16,000; 250 people will initially be allowed to join. Michael Ward, Harrods’ managing director, said China accounted for 16 per cent of the retailer’s sales last year. “We will just continue to focus on those relationships with the very top of the top,” he said.
Photograph Yongyuan Dai Getty Images