Illum

Schönes Kaufhaus mit einer interessanten Archtektur und einem großen Atrium mit 2 Cafes im Untergeschoss.
Es gibt die üblichen Luxusmarken (auch Lederearen) und eine Lebensmittelabteilumg.
Unsgesamt ist man sber relativ schnell durchgelaufen. Kein «must see».

Illum is a department store that boasts exclusive (read: expensive) brands. Perhaps, but the service is far from exclusive imho. I have been here several times since somehow I’m guilty of shopping lust that doesn’t always correlate with the size of my bank account.
However, I never had a day where I was thoroughly satisfied with the experience. There was always something off with Illum, whether it was the unsmiling personnel or the shitty after-​buy service they (did not) provided. It’s worse than just bad, because what does one wants after spending an arm and a leg for a sweater or a coat than a proper service? Somehow Illum workers think that you are not entitled to that.
Of course I’m guilty of generalising people and the salesladies /​salesgents might come from different companies, but I never forget the time when I was asking for some wool tights at Wolford counter and got laughed at because my own tights (which was Wolford) was shabby. She did point and laugh, but isn’t that why I wanted to buy a new one?
Or the time when a former friend of mine splashed a fortune on a coat whose buttons fell off within a week of usage and Illum people would rather fight a war than sending replacement buttons. Tsk tsk.
The store is undergoing renovation at the moment, so the shopping experience was even more minimal than before and some brands were gone from the list Burberry brit — (probably the only saleslady in Illum who actually treated me like a human being) and Karen Millen, two of my favourite brands. Maybe there’s no more reason to visit Illum in the future now that they are off the rack.
So long, Illum!

Awful, tried on a Hugo Boss jacket, staff member, Asian man with glasses took it from me horrified, saying.
‘I don’t know WHY you ever thought a Red Label would be big enough for you’
I left. My rudest experience ever in a shop.

Summary: Department store with some interesting brands worth browsing. Slightly smaller but better curated than Magazin. Enjoyed Holm’s Kaffeebar while I shopped around the store.
Atmosphere: Everyone’s going to have an opinion on this. I would say, this department store is between Macy’s and Sak’s in feel (Use NYC as reference). If you’re from Asia, it’s a bit like a Sogo, with «cooler brands», but not über-​trend. Curated, slightly higher price point than Magazin, which I think of as a Macy’s, but a lot of overlap. While both have a coffee shop, somehow I like the format of how they worked it in better here.
Check out:
Bags: There are two bag stores on the ground floor that are worth checking out. Veloris is a Denmark brand. Very masculine very leather. Not my deal, but I could see someone really wanting this particular look. There is another little separate purse brand. Quite structured. Worth a look.
Lingerie: Better selection, particularly of Simone and Perele. I can’t say it’s larger. It’s simply better curated.
Other floors: A lot of British brands. I quite like. They had a few nice Dune pieces, which I had not seen at the other stores.
Swimwear: This is where the store got me. They have two brands I hadn’t seen at other spots. Relative to American stores that are all skimp and no help, the design here is more practical, even in the two pieces.
Staff: I found everyone very professional and friendly. They stayed close to the dressing room area and were available for changes in sizing. This speaks to the organization of the store, i.e. the right number of people for each little alcove.

Walking through Copenhagen during our weekend adventure, we were distracted by some amazing window displays of fanciful characters and animatronic animals. It’s only just dawned on me that I saw similar displays in Manchester, indicating that this is a global chain, however that doesn’t take away from the beautiful creativity of their displays. Inside was very glamorous as well, but as we were not there to really buy anything, we didn’t make it past the Christmas section.

As an American tourist who simply popped in here while aimlessly roaming the streets of Stroget, i probably cannot give as thorough of a review of Illum as the locals could, but from what i saw here, I loved it!
From the outside, I noticed the café and bakery on the first floor, as is common place in most department stores in Europe. All the beautiful Christmas decorations drew me in as well.
Upon entering, I noticed that this is quite a large department store, there are 5 floors in total. Each floor is categorized by item, but they carry everything from beauty and makeup items to shoes and clothes for the whole family. It’s an upscale department store for sure. They have all the high end European brands here. I would compare it to Macy’s (think even bigger and more beautiful than Macy’s though) or to the Corte Ingles department stores in Spain.
Two thumbs up!

Heute musste ich feststellen, dass die Wiener Broed neuerdings Spandauer im Kaufhaus Illum Kopenhagen umbenannt wurden!?? Ich war deshalb leicht irretiert. Auf Nachfrage bei den Verkäuferinnen wußte keine, dass der Stadteil Spandau zu Berlin gehört mit einer teilweisen wechselvollen Geschichte!

Neben dem Magazin du Nord ist das Illum das zweite große Kaufhaus in Kopenhagen. Auf mehreren Etagen findet man im sog. Shop in Shop System alles, was das moderne und markenbewußte Käuferherz so begeehrt. Natürlich hat dies auch seinen Preis und wer Schnäpchen erwartet wird sicherlich enttäuscht sein.
Aber hier findet man auf jeden Fall alles, was gerade in und neu auf dem Markt ist. Sehenswert ist im Hauptgebäude auch die große Halle, die sich auf alle 4 Etagen erstreckt. Hier wird saisonmäßig dekoriert (Weihnachten ist hier natürlich ein High-​Light !).
In den unteren Etagen findet man einen kleinen Supermarkt und ein Kiosk, welches auch dt. Zeitungen verkauft. Im Erdgeschoss befindet sich ein Café, in dem man Mittags gut eine Kleinigkeit essen kann.