Rammell’s is famous. It’s the London department store that has everything. One can be clothed, fed, furnished, kept amused, and ultimately buried, entirely by Rammell’s. Provided you are in the right income bracket. The lives that revolve around Rammell’s are diverse: the owner, retired Sir Harry; his son Eric with his digestive problems and a wife who’s determined to make a social splash; and his other son Tony – to the newest salesgirl Irene, daughter of  floor-walker Mr. Privett. There is Mr. Bloot, the senior floor-walker who unexpectedly and disastrously falls in love; Tony gets into trouble with a model and it falls to dyspeptic Eric to straighten it out; and Sir Harry is always ready to causes chaos at his daughter-in-law’s soirees. There’s glamour and gossip, romance and intrigue; in all, a vivid portrayal of post-war London when business life  bustled with shop girls, typist, cashiers and secretaries who really ran the show.  There’s plenty of sly satire and wry humour as Collins highlights the pretensions and snobbery of a social scale within and without the store as well as very human and likeable characters with dreams and hopes that are not too different from the dreams and hopes of today.