No matter where you go in the world, if there's a city, there's bound to be a historic shopping location that pulls in the posh and precise customers alike. Located on the famed Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, Harrods is one of England's most popular department stores.

Of course, in this day and age, businesses and brands expand rapidly, hoping to share in various aspects of the marketplace. Harrods, once a lonely - yet thriving - department store is now a bank, real estate service, aircraft manufacturer and air travel provider.

The extensions of Harrods name turn the store into a legitimate conglomerate, but on its own, the London store takes up over 4 acres of prime real estate and the store has a robust size of over 1,000,000 square-feet of space with well over 300 separate departments.

Behind Macy's of New York, Harrods is the world's largest department store. People make the trek from far and wide to simply walk the expansive aisles. Folks also travel to see Harrods world-famous Christmas department and eat at the popular Food Hall.

Harrods was first established as a wholesale grocery store. Situated on London's impoverished and crime-laden East End, store owner Charles Henry Harrod decided to move the location and subsequently purchased a small shop in Knightsbridge and underwent the task of transforming it into a reputable store.

With his son's help and a lot of hard work, Harrod turned this small business into one of the most thriving ventures in all of London. The store first opened up its doors to the public in 1849, and from that day, Harrods prided itself on providing excellent goods and services.

From one employee in the mid 1800s, Charles marketed his store and expanded the name exponentially. By 1880, he had purchased the adjoining buildings and was employing 100 people. Charles Harrod had triumphed in his decades-long venture, but in 1883, tragedy struck when the store caught fire and burned beyond recognition.

Facing this seemingly insurmountable obstacle, Harrod never wavered from his commitment to excellence. As promised, he made good on the Christmas deliveries his customers were expecting, and after earning record profits, he built a new store on the exact same site.

The new store was an even bigger hit than the previous store. Charles Harrod passed away in 1885 and his son, Charles Digby Harrod, took over operations. He retired in 1889 and the store's shares were floated on the London Stock Exchange.

Almost a century later, after different owners and more expansions, Harrods was larger than life and the Fayed brothers purchased the store in 1985 for 615 million GBP. Today, Fayed's son Omar is in line to take over the brand.

The store offers an extremely wide range of goods and services. From sporting gear and clothing to electronics and jewelry and even pet accessories, Harrods has something for everyone. On busy days, over 300,000 customers flood the store, most of which, undoubtedly, are just there to check out the store.