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The brainchild of Barbara Hulanicki and husband Stephen Fitz-Simon the philosophy was simple. Provide the average girl in London with a means for where they could, for less than 10% of her weekly earnings, share the look of popular icons of the time.
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After several other stores opened in the more hip and fashionable areas of London, the final move was in 1974 to the former Derry & Toms department store on the Kensington High Street. This became affectionately known as ‘Big Biba”. The store immediately attracted up to a million customers weekly, making it one of the most visited tourist attractions in London. There were different departments, and each floor had its own theme, such as a children's floor, a floor for men, a book store, a food market, and a "home" floor which sold items such as wallpaper, paint, cutlery, soft furnishings and even statues.
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Big Biba was a huge responsibility in terms of expense and organization, but Hulanicki and Fitz felt they needed to "keep moving forward." Because of this massive undertaking, Hulanicki said, "Every time I went into the shop, I was afraid it would be for the last time." No one was aware of how serious the financial difficulties were going to be - and they indeed proved too much for the new entrepreneurs. After disagreements with the Board over creative control, Hulanicki left the company and, shortly afterwards in 1975, Biba was closed.
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