Shopping News

Does Music in Stores Drive You Nuts? Selfridges' New Silent Shopping Concept

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(Getty Images) Selfridges in London

Maybe it's a symptom of my old age, but do you ever walk into a store, intent on browsing and buying, only to be driven away by some overenthusiastic cacaphony broadcasting over the PA?

For any shopper who's ever wanted walk out of a bookstore blaring dance music (I'm talking to you, fiction & literature section of the Union Square Barnes & Noble) or flee from a chain store that can't get its decibel levels in check (hello Abercrombie & Fitch), UK department store Selfridges has an experimental solution that sounds like, ahem, music to our ears.

Beginning January 11th, the destination shop on London's Oxford Street will open a "No Noise" space—a no-shoes, no-cells, and no-unnecessary noise room within its Ultralounge area. No Noise will stock a curated selection of pieces from designer labels such as Maison Martin Margiela, Yohji Yamamoto, Jil Sander and Ann Demeulemeester as well as unbranded items.

According to a report in WWD, the point is to "invite customers to find a moment of piece in a world where we are bombarded by a cacaphony of information and stimulation," and to encourage "mindful messages and meditation practices."

Totally calm, noise-free, focus-ful shopping? I can definitely get behind that. What do you think? And, we want to know—which stores in your life are the worst noise-pollution offenders? Sound off in the comments, below.