Much missed - The National Geographic shop on Regent Street, London

 

Admittedly I probably didn't spend enough money in the Nat Geo shop at 83-87 Regent Street (National Geographic London or NGL) to help it stay open. It was absolutely my favourite shop while it was open and although I get a similar vibe from aspects of Anthropologie (also on Regent Street) it's not really the same thing. They once had the most amazing wooden bookshelf for sale, made from an old oxen-led wagon from India (it had been turned on its side and shelves added), which I stared at intently over several visits until someone bought it and it disappeared. It cost £1,000 so I wasn't in much danger of buying it myself. Also I have nowhere to put it.



The shop was already 'there' when I first noticed it - sometimes you're aware that a shop is about to open, sometimes it just happens and this was one of those 'walking past and then backtracking'. I was entranced. Full of all manner of stuff including photography exhibitions, stuffed toys, a cold room downstairs where you could try on clothing suitable for arctic conditions. All manner of books, cameras (and other ocular equipment on the top floor), luggage, magazines (obviously), DVDs and a really lovely cafe on the ground floor. I bought presents in the shop there for my friends' young children.



It was interestingly decorated - I remember a massive lamp near the front of the shop. It always looked like the sort of place that might hold interesting events but I could never find out about any in advance despite signing up to their mailing list. I missed all of these.



It opened in mid-November 2008 and closed in May 2011 with a smaller store opening briefly at 102 Brompton Road (I never knew about it sadly so didn't visit) in December 2011 which closed somewhere between Aug 2014 and Oct 2015 (judging from Google Street View). There was also a shop in Singapore which opened in 2008 and closed in 2013, it looked pretty similar to the Regent Street one. As far as I'm aware there is no National Geographic Store anywhere in the world, which is a sad thing, but they are very expensive to run.



TripAdvisor has some nice pictures and there are more on Flickr.

If you walk from where the shop was back down to Piccadilly then the 9 bus will take you to the Royal Geographical Society (no relation) where you can attend fascinating lectures about our planet, I certainly recommend that. There's a travel-writing workshop (panel discussion) coming up on 22 Jan (£8).

NGL in the news
National Geographic opens up a new world of shopping on Regent Street 2 November 2008 The Guardian

National Geographic store: Catch this 21 November 2008 The Telegraph
"There hasn’t been anything like it since colonels in Poona wrote to the Army & Navy Stores in Victoria for cabin trunks and tropical-weight dinner jackets. National Geographic opened its first global store last week on Regent Street, London: three floors of black interiors and polished concrete floors that are part souk, part outfitters, part travel agency, part antique shop, part gallery and part café."

Inside the National Geographic London Store 4 February 2009 National Geographic

Other posts (admittedly this is only the second) in the Much missed 'series'

• Somerset House and Film4's Summer Screen series of open air films in the courtyard (9 June 2022)
• The Bankside Frost Fair 2003 - 2008 (24 November 2020)
• Speechification, curated radio documentaries (9 January 2020)
• The National Geographic shop on Regent Street, London (4 January 2020) - this post
• Much missed - MOMI, London's Museum of the Moving Image (2 January 2014)