Debenhams

Debenhems is a massive shopping centre like Myers or djs in Australia.
There was still a lot of remaining stock after boxing day.
I went straight to the women’s footwear section in the basement floor. I actually fell in love with four pairs of leather boots (a rarity as I usually can’t find ones that I like or are in my size). Got a pair of Italians leather boots (knee high) that were 50% off. Bargain. Oh and just discovered that ny law all uk stores must charge 5p per bag.

I found a nice little dress here on sale. The only problem was that it had a little mark on it that I was not happy about which I found when I got home. I will have to take more care in the future with buying. Going to return it today and see what happens.

All under one roof, this debenhams branch has a big variety of products in each department, and was delighted to walk into the café on the second floor for afternoon coffee and cake. Take a break from all that shopping!

We had afternoon tea and coffee at the Restaurant on the 5 (5^th floor restaurant) while waiting for a delayed business meeting. It was a pleasant surprise to have a real espresso in such a commercial and touristic place. The Americano was also good. The chocolate fudge cake was freshly made and light and their fruit and cheese scones were also very good. The place was clean and tidy, service was quick.
The only downside is that there is no view, well, you can see the sky but you have to look up as all windows are masked with some dark net.

Well, it’s just ginormous isn’t it.
We’re in the process of moving and Debenhams plays host to Ben di Lisi, a favourite of mine so we thought we’d take the opportunity and pop in for a nose around the homeware section. I was not disappointed. It basically has EVERYTHING.
To get to where we wanted to go, it was a pretty long process of holding your breath as you walked through the pretty extensive perfume and make-​up section, five escalators and walking round in what felt like circles but finally, FINALLY we got there and just, wow. There aren’t even any words for it.
The departments are really well organised. Everything is clean, tidy and has its place in its own section. They even have a whole section for place mats. Who knew there was such choice in what to rest your dinner on?! They also organise by designer so if you’re looking for a person in particular, as we were, it’s easy to gather up a range of supplies without having to ping pong between place mats, wine glasses, cutlery, finger bowls and whatever else they have a section for. It’s exhaustive, be assured of that.
We went during a 20% off marked sticker price too (SO many bargains) and they had little signs everywhere giving you the mark down prices, which was helpful since I’m terrible at maths. Seriously, terrible.
The escalators themselves are a bit weird. The first half is flat. By which I mean, when you step on them you don’t go up, you go along, like a running machine, and then gently up. It takes some getting used to and so if you hang around, you can see a bunch of people desperately try to judge when the right time to stop walking forward and start stepping upwards is. HILARIOUS.
The staff are helpful too. They always have a smile on their face and are willing to run around the entire shop trying to find the price of the display item because they don’t have any others in stock. She even knocked off 10% after we pointed out the smallest scratch in the world so I’ve got no complaints at all.
The only downside is the size. While having such a large store seems like a brilliant thing because everything is in one place, it just takes so much longer trying to find anything because it’s so spread out. We spent at least two hours in here and came out with a set of place mats and a resolve to order the stuff we wanted online because we couldn’t find it, even with help.
If you’ve got a day to spend walking around shopping, you couldn’t get much better. If you’re after a specific item, don’t expect to be in and out in five minutes.

Just a quick comment as I had a salt beef sandwich at their 5^th floor restaurant.
Really great.
choice of bread, salt beef, pickle dill and sauerkraut all for £ 6.95
Beats Selfridges brass rail !

Debenhams’ flagship store has recently had a big re-​vamp. Months of scaffolding and false walls were finally taken down for the Christmas season, but I don’t find it terribly changed/​improved.
I enjoy this department store, but don’t find it particularly special. It’s just big. It does have a lovely huge selection of cosmetics and such.

always on sale so look for them :) but still, short business hours!

I like Debenhams. Though sometimes the exclusive environment of Selfridges is a bit nicer, this is my second favourite department store on Oxford Street. I would not say my second favourite as I would be doing Liberty wrong in saying so.
Anyway, I am quite a regular in their beauty department but I also love their underwear section. You can find everything you may need from clothes to electric equipment and even marshmellows. They have a travel centre, a restaurant and so on.
In the underwear section you can find everything from big to small, high and not-​so-​high prices and brands from their own to Triumph and Wonderbra. They also offer free bra-​fittings which I can really suggest you to do. Studies have shown that more than 80% of women wear the wrong size bras!
Their beauty section is on the ground floor, right when you step into the store. Most major brands can be found here from Benefit (they also have a Brow Bar here) to Bliss (also with a Spa area) and Dior. In my experience it is useful to have either a Beauty Club Card (if you buy beauty regularly) or to have a look out for one of their discount weekends with up to 15% off in beauty.
Furthermore, in the back (a little bit hidden) you can find a number of nail bars for example from Nails Inc. The service on all counters is really great, staff is friendly and from the brand rather than the store. Particularly friendly is the staff at Dior and Clinique counters. At Chanel, my experience was not too great.
Overall, a few things are missing in my opinion. A real jeans area for women. The men have Levi’s why don’t we have it too? In the beauty section, Kiehls should be added and the entire floor should possibly be revamped especially considering the new John Lewis beauty hall next door!
Debenhams gets five stars from me because I like the way they treat customers and staff. Staff is friendly, prices are good and regular offers make shopping even more fun. I am sure to be back and look forward to the summer sales!

Affordable Clothing in UK Sizes.
Huge sortiment in a Flag-​Store.

Aaaaargh. I hate the escalators here.
Other than that, it’s got a good selection of clothes including loads of high street brands, decent homeware department, and a comprehensive beauty department.
Speaking of the beauty department, some counters are great (YSL I’m looking at you) and some have billions of staff who seem intent on ignoring potential customers (Lancome I’m looking at you). Some of the floating Debenhams staff are less than helpful as they don’t know the products. But, their beauty club card system is good — wait for the promotions and get bonus points which quickly stack up to free stuff.
Ridiculously busy on a Saturday, not helped by the hateful hateful escalators.
Also the café makes a lot of the shop smell.
Handy as a cheaper alternative to Selfridges and a handy place to visit lots of high street concessions but not a destination.

Years ago i would have given this store 5 stars but my last two visits have been an unpleasant surprise. I would say the best experiences I have had have been in the men’s fashion, and the café. The staff are really helpful and know their products there. The same cannot be said of the badly signed posted swim wear changing room nor of the rude abrasive staff on some of the concessions (those on the fragrance area particularly!) it seems as though many staff are lacking in basic product knowledge or simply don’t care.

This was my first trip to the UK and I had no idea of the multitude of sights, sounds, and tastes that awaited me. I was awestruck by the amount of excellent retail outlets. I enjoyed my walk on Oxford Street so much, that I went inside a few stores and came out with goodies.
Debenhams was one such adventure. Its women’s wear floor is very fashionable and the clothes are of good quality. I bought the most beautiful and form fitting, pink, floral dress. I love my dress b/​c there is nothing like it in Canada and because it’s London fashion! I have a bit of London style with me now! I also visited their kitchen and living sections and bought a cutsey Keep Calm and Carry On heart shaped décor to hang in my kitchen and a coffee mug (fine bone china) with the Union Jack motif. I drink my green tea and think of England, ha ha!
On the level below street level, there is a smart café right in the middle of the square, so that when you go up and down the escalators, you see the café below. Asking the store employees, this store is one rung above Marks & Spencer’s but below John Lewis. From my Canadian perspective, I would classify this store as above the Bay but below Holt Renfrew. The fashion, designers collaborating with this store, the quality, the colours, the style put this above the Bay, but the prices are so affordable that in price alone, it is below the Bay! It’s a great value for money.

Like Debenhams, like them even more during sales time! Good service and range.

Debenhams is great! I was in London in transit for a wedding and I had to get a fascinator! Everyone kept telling me to go to Harrods but it’s so expensive there. Instead I went to Debenhams and I found the perfect fascinator to go with my dress and also bought tights to wear and other stuff for the wedding. The only complaint that I had is that there are long lines at the cash registers.

Debenhams might not be the most fancy or well presented department store on the Oxford Street strip but I was very happy on my make up spree after class on Friday. I got something from Clarins and Urban Decay and I must say both the counter girls who helped me were knowledgeable and helpful, something which is a rarity these days. They didn’t try to sell me more than I wanted to buy and gave really good reasons/​tips for buying the products recommended and how to make it work better for me.
Yup, impressed with the quality of staff they are hiring there… now if only they could get a new visual merchandising team in so the place won’t be such an eye sore…

This huge department store has ‘guilty pleasure’ written all over it. I was initially lured in here by some vouchers, and have to admit I’ve been popping in from time to time ever since — mostly to pick up reasonably-​priced home items (the third floor is a bit of a haven) but also to shop the various high street clothing concessions.
There are also several cafes in store, and there’s nothing quite more welcome in the middle of a tiring shopping expedition than holing up here for half an hour with a cup of tea and one of their jam scones. Then back on to the shop floor for more retail therapy! They almost always have a sale on of some sort, so it’s always worth a look if you have a specific purchase in mind.

Seems like a nice enough store. It’s a good size, they offer a foreign exchange service and they’ve got loads in the way of designer collaborations such as the recently launched EDITION collection which features the likes of Jonathan Saunders and Preen coming up with affordable, yet oh-​so-​chic designs. In addition, the ever-​reliable Principles by Ben di Lisi range can be found here.
Also, buying online is a dream. Goods get delivered to me within two working days of my order… and that’s on standard shipping, not express!
The reason I’m giving this a mere three stars though? I’m currently in line at the Collections Point on a Wednesday evening and the point is desperately understaffed!

I just don’t like it.
Selfridges — lovely. Liberty — gorgeous. Debehnams — eek.
It’s always overcrowded and I hate the layout of the store, for some reason I can never find what I’m looking for in the same way as I can elsewhere. Is it just me?
Yes, they have John Rocha and Matthew Williamson etc but I just feel they have rubbish designers and never enough of the concessions I wear. Dare I say it, it’s a bit old lady-​ish. Even Marks and Spencer has come further in recent years.
On doing an in-​store collection, only half the order had arrived and staff were fairly unconcerned and unhelful about the whole thing, resulting in me running around the shop floor trying to find the item they were meant to have ordered as ‘they didn’t have enough staff’
Pants.

I make no secret about the fact that I don’t like department stores. Hate them, never shop in them and generally get quite stressed when I’m in one. HOW do they make them so you can’t escape?!? All the escalators are in the wrong place! It also upsets me that you can’t get in or out without doing the ‘perfume counter assault course’. I don’t like being sold to when I’m buying perfume. You can’t make me decide I like the smell of something.
But then Debenhams were really really lovely, and it threw me a bit. I enjoyed shopping here. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t in a rush, maybe it’s because I spent time in here not being stressed out. But their staff were friendly. Really friendly actually. The girls on the tills trying to be helpful as possible. The D&G perfume girl who was helpful without being pressurising. All of the niceness makes me like them more than I like department stores. Any that’s pretty impressive.
I don’t think I’ll ever be the kind of girl to shop in department stores. I certainly wouldn’t stop and have a glass of wine in one. But their friendliness last week means that I wouldn’t just shop online anymore. Next time I walk by, I might be tempted to pop in.

It must be difficult to be a department store in Oxford Street. There is few others you know and competition is brutal. So I can’t help wondering why on earth isn’t Debenhams doing anything about it?
I mean the fact that their visual looks is just a one big mess. The departments inside, another mess. I just can’t visit this store as it makes me dizzy, there is no logic, it is too packed with stuff. I don’t know what the labels are as it is a random mix of smaller own know (made in far far away country) brands. Maybe this strategy works better else where in UK but in Oxford Street. I can just as well save my self from the misery and walk to the nice and organized John Lewis next door.
I don’t know my dear Debenhams, but I am sure you could do much better than this.