Today was my first visit into Edinburgh since 2020 and only my third since before the pandemic started and I was surprised at the many changes since then both on the bus route and the city centre.   I knew that the iconic Jenners store had been sold to a Danish billionaire with plans to turn it into a retail store and hotel with a roof top terrace.  Before it closed in May 2020 it was worth visiting at Christmas to see the huge tree which towered up to the atrium roof and was high on the list of shops for rich tourists.
Its origin is interesting as it was established by a young draper, Charles Jenner and Charles Kennington who had both been sacked after taking the day off to go to the Musselburgh races in 1838.  They took the lease at 47 Princes Street and claimed they would provide “every prevailing British and Parisian fashion in silks, shawls, fancy dresses, ribbons, lace, hosiery, and every description of linen drapery and haberdashery.” At the time, silks and linens were only available in the great fashion houses of London, so it was an ambitious aim.  After the first building was destroyed by fire in 1892 it was rebuilt with a fireproof floors and iron and steel columns and beams. and included electric lighting and hydraulic lifts and a large top-lit gallery and was regarded as the “Harrods of Scotland.” By then Kennington had died and the store had became known as Jenners.  Unfortunately Jenner never saw the completed building.
The exterior is very ornate with prominence given to caryatids which are stone pillars carved as draped female figures supporting the building.  Jenner said they were intended “to show symbolically that women are the support of the house as well as his business"  and they represent the countries with which Jenners did business. 
Unfortunately it was not easy to get a good photo without standing in the road