The New York Times
February 12, 1995
Business, p. 36.
For Honor and Harrods
To the Editor:
I am not a member of the British establishment, nor do I
aspire to be but neither do I come from a background that
is in the least bit murky ("A Brash Outsider, Yes, but He
Has Harrods Hopping," Profile, Jan. 29). My father was a
much-loved professor of Arabic and since when was the duty
of nurturing the young regarded as dark or dishonorable?
I glory in the history and culture of my native Egypt and
have been known to remind my British friends -- and I find
I have more and more of them -- that "we" were building the
Pyramids and perfecting hieroglyphics when "they" were
painting each other with blue dye and dressing in animal's
skins; Harrods fashion department was still several
millennia hence!
If it is "bumptious" to refuse to submit to the xenophobic
condescension and barely concealed racism that still
disfigures British life, then so be it. But I would rather
charaterize my attitude as a stand against the
establishment conspiracy that has tried to rob my family of
its good name, after that same establishment was very happy
to take my money when I bought the House of Fraser Group
and with it, Harrods.
I paid cash, I paid on time and in full. It was two years
later, after the transaction had been approved and verified
by two British Trade Ministers and a host of regulatory
authorities, that the Government decided for reasons of
pure, or rather impure, political expediency to investigate
the deal. Another three years later came the publication of
a highly contentious report that virtually ignored my
submission of some 700 pages. The two Inspectors, clearly
out of their depths, preferred to accept innuendo,
speculation and falsehood because in their hearts they
could not accept that an Egyptian could own their favorite
store.
To confound them, and those clinging to outmoded attiludes,
I have created a Harrods that is better than their feeble
brains could imagine. For you to quote the inspectors'
harsh judgments on me is somewhat akin to The Times of
London nominating Benedict Arnold as a great American
patriot.
Your reporter said he wanted to write the real story, the
unknown story of Harrods, the business success that is
putting the store into the history books as the most
successful of all time. He did that in part but in choosing
to highlight old controversies and new British Government
scandals, he gave a distorted picture. Harrods is much more
than me -- it is 5,000 dedicated staff and 12 million
satisfied customers a year.
He asked me to pose for a serious "business leader"
photograph, and you then chose an older picture that made
me look like Louis Armstrong about to remonstrate with Bing
Crosby! Never mind, I love Louis Armstrong and, long before
me, Satch defeated prejudice by refusing to submit and just
doing what he did best. I shall follow his example on my
own more modest stage, Harrods.
Mohamed Al-Fayed
London, Feb. 1
[Mr. Al-Fayed, arty late-payer, owes us unpaid architectural
fees
of many thousands of dollars for work at The Hotel Pierre,
NYC, now 5 years overdue. His attorneys, Shearman &
Sterling, do not deny the claim, merely pump gas and bill
Mo. We
welcome this ode-time to publicly join those similarly
sharked by the octopussian egypper ignoblegrok harridan.]
February 12, 1995
Business, p. 36.
For Honor and Harrods
To the Editor:
I am not a member of the British establishment, nor do I
aspire to be but neither do I come from a background that
is in the least bit murky ("A Brash Outsider, Yes, but He
Has Harrods Hopping," Profile, Jan. 29). My father was a
much-loved professor of Arabic and since when was the duty
of nurturing the young regarded as dark or dishonorable?
I glory in the history and culture of my native Egypt and
have been known to remind my British friends -- and I find
I have more and more of them -- that "we" were building the
Pyramids and perfecting hieroglyphics when "they" were
painting each other with blue dye and dressing in animal's
skins; Harrods fashion department was still several
millennia hence!
If it is "bumptious" to refuse to submit to the xenophobic
condescension and barely concealed racism that still
disfigures British life, then so be it. But I would rather
charaterize my attitude as a stand against the
establishment conspiracy that has tried to rob my family of
its good name, after that same establishment was very happy
to take my money when I bought the House of Fraser Group
and with it, Harrods.
I paid cash, I paid on time and in full. It was two years
later, after the transaction had been approved and verified
by two British Trade Ministers and a host of regulatory
authorities, that the Government decided for reasons of
pure, or rather impure, political expediency to investigate
the deal. Another three years later came the publication of
a highly contentious report that virtually ignored my
submission of some 700 pages. The two Inspectors, clearly
out of their depths, preferred to accept innuendo,
speculation and falsehood because in their hearts they
could not accept that an Egyptian could own their favorite
store.
To confound them, and those clinging to outmoded attiludes,
I have created a Harrods that is better than their feeble
brains could imagine. For you to quote the inspectors'
harsh judgments on me is somewhat akin to The Times of
London nominating Benedict Arnold as a great American
patriot.
Your reporter said he wanted to write the real story, the
unknown story of Harrods, the business success that is
putting the store into the history books as the most
successful of all time. He did that in part but in choosing
to highlight old controversies and new British Government
scandals, he gave a distorted picture. Harrods is much more
than me -- it is 5,000 dedicated staff and 12 million
satisfied customers a year.
He asked me to pose for a serious "business leader"
photograph, and you then chose an older picture that made
me look like Louis Armstrong about to remonstrate with Bing
Crosby! Never mind, I love Louis Armstrong and, long before
me, Satch defeated prejudice by refusing to submit and just
doing what he did best. I shall follow his example on my
own more modest stage, Harrods.
Mohamed Al-Fayed
London, Feb. 1
[Mr. Al-Fayed, arty late-payer, owes us unpaid architectural
fees
of many thousands of dollars for work at The Hotel Pierre,
NYC, now 5 years overdue. His attorneys, Shearman &
Sterling, do not deny the claim, merely pump gas and bill
Mo. We
welcome this ode-time to publicly join those similarly
sharked by the octopussian egypper ignoblegrok harridan.]