Luxury watch shop to open on Nottingham’s ‘Carnaby Street’

Footfall in the area plummeted but there is hope for the shopping street

A luxury watch store will be opening on a revived shopping street in Nottingham after plans were given the green light.

The store will open in Bridlesmith Gate, which has been undergoing a transformation from a desolate thoroughfare to a bustling shopping street once again.

Footfall in the area plummeted upon the closure of the former Broadmarsh Centre after the site’s previous owner, intu, collapsed into administration at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

However, in 2024, city developer Arran Bailey, of ALB Group, purchased 14 properties in Bridlesmith Gate and Byard Lane, and a further seven in Lister Gate, as part of wider plans to give the historic city streets a boost.

Many are now let out, and newly-painted vibrant murals have become a feature of the street for shoppers, visitors and residents.

Mr Bailey had said his vision was to create Nottingham’s version of Carnaby Street, a popular shopping district in Soho.

On Tuesday (March 31), Nottingham City Council granted permission for the Watches of Switzerland group, a large luxury watch retailer, to open a Goldsmiths store on the street.

Plans say the existing vacant unit will undergo “refurbishment to create a Goldsmiths hybrid concept store for Watches of Switzerland Group.”

“The existing shopfront will be stripped-out and replaced with a new façade within the existing openings,” plans add.

The unit, which is on the corner of the street opposite The Ivy and Bravissimo, was last used by travel agents Kuoni, which has moved to open on part of the second floor of the John Lewis store in the Victoria Centre.

Goldsmiths shops often sell Rolex and Omega watches, and features other top brands such as Roberto Coin and Swiss watch makers Rado and Tissot.

Vintage shop Glass Onion and The Ivy are among the street’s most recent additions.

The Ivy opened its first East Midlands branch in the former Hugo Boss building in October, last year.

However, some units on the street remain empty, including the large building which was last occupied by Flannels, before the luxury chain moved around the corner to Lister Gate in September 2023.

Last month, Ecco, a Danish shoe and leather accessories shop, announced it would be closing its branch on the street.

The premium shop had been located on Bridlesmith Gate for at least nine years and was the company’s only premises in the East Midlands.