Serenity Booksellers are delighted to be working with Canongate Books and Harvery Nichols to host a special signing event with Mary Portas at the New Cathedral St branch of Harvey Nichols in Manchester to celebrate the publication of her new book I Shop, Therefore I Am: The ‘90s, Harvey Nicks and Me.

The signing will take place in Womenswear on the First Floor, Harvey Nichols Manchester between 12.00 and 14.00. On arrival, please show your booking confirmation to the bookseller in exchange for the book and your place in the queue. Spots are limited so please register to secure your space.

About the book:

It’s the 1990s: Britpop is dominating the charts, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell stare out from the cover of every glossy magazine and British fashion is ripe for reinvention. Leading the charge is a twenty-something Mary Portas who has been brought in to revitalise the department store Harvey Nichols, at the time more likely to be associated with dowagers than daring designers.

With department stores in decline and an alpha male leadership team watching closely, the pressure is immense: make it profitable and make it relevant. Mary steps into a world she doesn’t fully understand – and at first, it shows. But what seems like vulnerability quickly reveals itself as vision. By the millennium, the store would be renowned for its outrageous, headline-grabbing window displays and patronage by Bolly-swigging duo Patsy and Edina of the iconic sitcom Ab Fab – no longer fusty old Harvey Nichols but Harvey Nicks, daaarling!

I Shop, Therefore I Am is the story of how she did it.Mary takes us behind the shop window – to the people who kept the show on the road and the early lessons that shaped her career. Told with her trademark wit, grit and candour, readers will see first-hand how, armed only with the blank canvas of a shop window and her own creativity, Mary created an era-defining global brand destination.

About the author:

Mary Portas is a businesswoman, broadcaster, author and activist. She has published four books: Windows: The Art of Retail Display, Shop Girl, Work Like A Woman and Rebuild. At age 32 she became a board member at Harvey Nichols before founding her own retail consultancy. Mary has since worked with some of the biggest names in global retail. Her BBC series Mary Queen of Shops premiered in 2007 and she has presented on television and radio ever since. In 2009, she partnered with Save The Children to reinvent charity shops. She also conducted a review of the future for high streets for the British government in 2011. As co-chair of the Better Business Act, Mary heads a coalition of businesses calling for a change in the law to ensure UK companies align their interests with those of wider society and the environment. In 2024 she was awarded an OBE for her services to business, broadcasting and charity.