The station, operated by HS1 and the terminus for rail services to Europe, now attracts some 50 million visitors a year. Over the past ten years, it has become a destination in its right own for shoppers with a mix of premium and craft brands, Europe’s longest champagne bar courtesy of Searcys and cultural additions such as a free-to-play jukebox, pianos and art installations. Customers’ demand for the printed word has prompted Watersons-owned Hatchards to expand its shop by a third and include six more booksellers.
Renowned for its Christmas displays, this year’s 36-foot chic concourse dazzler evokes Paris’ Eiffel Tower.
Embellished with 1,500 bottles of Lancôme’s signature fragrance La Vie Est Belle, the creation with a pop-up shop features a 1,300 LED flashing light display reminiscent of the tower’s famous illuminated show.
Searcys has created an exclusive cocktail menu for customers with a super special homage to the perfume – champagne laced with notes of orange blossom and pear, while artist Tracey Emin’s 20-yard long candy pink artwork “I want my time with you”, the positive welcome that arriving passengers first see suspended above the Grand Terrace, perfectly complements the rosy theme too.
HS1’s commercial director Wendy Spinks said: “This unique masterpiece with Lancôme is an ode to St Pancras’s links with Paris.”
The perfumes will be donated to cancer support charity Look Good Feel Better in 2020.