Harvey Nichols Manchester opens with Four IV-designed interiors

Harvey Nichols is giving Selfridges a run for its money this week as it opens its fifth store, with interiors designed by Four IV.

The 5574m2 Manchester store covers three floors and features shades of Art Deco with a curved corner tower. Inside, the group has introduced bespoke furniture designed to create an ‘intimacy’ within a large store format, says Four IV design director Gregor Jackson, who led the work.

The store also incorporates a brasserie and a cocktail bar, both designed by Lifschutz Davidson.

Selfridges, which already has one store in central Manchester’s Exchange Square and another just outside, brings its tally of shops to four this September with the opening of its Future Systems-designed Birmingham Bullring store.

Harvey Nichols’ Exchange Square site follows on from its London, Leeds, Birmingham and Edinburgh city-centre stores.

‘We are completely different to Selfridges,’ insists Harvey Nichols marketing director Julia Bowe, who is unfazed by the local competition. ‘We have a different customer profile. And we are less brand-oriented and more focused on our own brand and also [clothing],’ she says.

Strong competition helps to create a top-end shopping destination that benefits everyone, Bowe adds.