Mary Portas: I Shop, Therefore I Am

Mary Portas- I Shop, Therefore I Am. Friday 13th November 2026 at 7.30pmIts the 1990s: Britpop is dominating the charts, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell are on the cover of every glossy magazine and British fashion is ripe for reinvention. Leading the charge is a twenty-somethingMary Portaswho 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 two babies at home, a sceptical, all-male senior management team to impress, and pressure to bring in new brands and customers, Mary steps into a world she doesnt fully understand. At first it shows, but that vulnerability quickly reveals itself as vision. By the millennium, the store would be renowned for its outrageous, headline-grabbing, traffic-stopping window displays; patronage by style icon Lady Di and bolly-swigging duo Patsy and Edina of the iconic sitcom Ab Fab no longer fusty old Harvey Nicols but Harvey Nicks, daaarling!Part memoir, part manifesto for business as a creative act,I Shop, Therefore I Am is the story of how she did it.In this no-holds-barred account, Mary takes us behind the shop window from behind-the-scenes fashion gossip to the early lessons that have shaped her career.
Told with her trademark wit, grit and candour, Mary reveals how, armed only with the blank canvas of a shop window and her own creativity, she created a business empire that has stood the test of time.
I Shop, Therefore I Am is a love letter to creativity, vision and risk.MARY PORTAS is a businesswoman, broadcaster, author and activist. At age 32, she became a board member at Harvey Nichols before founding her own retail consultancy, Portas where she continues to work with 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, Mary was awarded an OBE for her services to business, broadcasting and charity.Mary is the author of five books: Windows: The Art of Retail Display, Shop Girl, Work Like a Woman, Rebuild. And I Shop, Therefore I Am: The '90s, Harvey Nicks and Me (Canongate).Advance tickets: Adult 12.00 Student Under 18 years 10.00. On the door on the night they will cost 14.00 and 12.00 respectivelyCopies of Mary's books will be available to purchase on the night