It has long been a favourite of the Queen and is a familiar haunt for that breed of the privileged young known as Sloane Rangers.

For the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer, there was nowhere else to have their wedding list. But proof that no one is immune from the credit crunch came yesterday when it was announced that the holding company for the General Trading store in Chelsea had been placed into administration.

A spokesman for MRC, which has been appointed administrator to the General Trading Company (Mayfair), said that the news was connected with the decline of confidence in the retail market. He emphasised that it was the holding company which was affected and that the Chelsea store and its 32 staff were working as normal.

However, there will be splutters over stiff drinks in drawing rooms in southwest London and elsewhere about the possible demise of GTC.

This was one of the first stores in the country to invent the wedding list. It was founded on Park Lane, Mayfair, in 1920 by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Dealtry Part, whose military precision established the way of coordinating how friends and family in town and country could buy gifts they knew that a couple wanted, without duplication.

Philip Duffy, joint administrator, said in a statement last night that he was concentrating on preserving the business and selling the store as a going concern, “saving a piece of history as well as the employment of those working there”. He added: “We are confident that there will be a significant amount of interest.”

The store became synonymous with the Swinging Sixties when it moved from Park Lane to the racier site on Sloane Street, Chelsea, with premises rented from the Cadogan estate. It became as fashionable as the era’s other retail icons, Biba and Habitat.

It would be easy, but not necessarily accurate, to blame the store’s troubles on a fading taste for chintz, chinoiserie and silver pheasants for the dining room. In 2001 the store moved around the corner to Symons Street and made a determined effort to capture the neo-minimalist look with lots of light, space, neutral colours and natural wood. It still aimed, however, to offer the classic mix of modern with the antique, and decorative pieces from far-flung destinations with novelty items, such as whoopee cushions for £2.95.

There are also items to appeal to the military, traditional country sports enthusiasts and the modern cook.

The business was still open for orders yesterday, but a spokewoman was unable to comment on the economic difficulties.

There was also no word from the directors of the holding company named on the Companies House register: Jeffrey Gould, 64, of Hampstead, North London; Paul Middlemiss, 43, of Twickenham, West London, and Galvin Weston, 57, of Marion, Texas.

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