Inside Harrods’ new Shanghai private members’ club: The Residence offers China’s ultra-wealthy seclusion, rare whisky and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s first restaurant in the Asian financial hub

Jul 19 , 2023

Welcome to The Residence, Harrods’ first private members’ club, opening later this year in Shanghai, and offering China’s ultra-elite an exclusive dose of distinctly British hospitality. Photo: Harrods

The Residence marks the iconic London department store’s first membership-only venture outside the UK in a bid to captivate China’s insatiable 1 per cent

Limited to just 250 places, members will have access to the store’s global concierge services and be able to collect rare spirits through a partnership with Scottish whisky company Edrington

Iconic London department store Harrods will open a new private members club in Shanghai, the first of its kind outside the UK, in a bid to tap resilient demand from ultra-wealthy Chinese amid a slowing recovery in consumption.

Inside The Residence, Harrods’ new members’ club in Shanghai. Photo: Harrods

The new club, called The Residence, will open at the end of this year on the second floor of Cha House, a central Shanghai heritage building where a Harrods tea room and bar, which are open to public, are already located.

Checking in style at The Residence in Shanghai. Photo: Harrods

British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s first restaurant in the Chinese financial and retail capital will be housed inside the club, where annual fees will start at 150,000 yuan (US$21,000).

Harrods services the top 1 per cent of the world’s wealth … we know that the wealth in China will grow

Michael Ward, Harrods

Care for a drink? The bar at The Residence. Photo: Harrods

Residence members will also be able to collect rare bottles of alcohol through Harrods’ partnership with premier Scottish whisky company Edrington, and have access to the store’s global concierge services. The club will accept 250 members to start.

The wide terrace at The Residence. Photo: Harrods

Chinese customers contributed 16 per cent of Harrods’ sales last year, Michael Ward, Harrods’ managing director told Bloomberg in an interview. Moreover, Chinese luxury shoppers who mostly spent overseas before the pandemic have begun turning inward in the pandemic’s wake, as the range of domestic offerings grows and prices rise around the world – hindering their enthusiasm for leaving home.