Beloved department store The Guild to close

A beloved department store that opened more than a century ago is set to close later this month.

The Guild, in Park Street, Bristol, announced on social media on Wednesday that it would stop trading on 30 May.

Comprising of four floors, the Bristol Guild of Applied Art sells wide-ranging arts and crafts and displays exhibitions in a gallery.

It was opened in 1908 and was later bought by crafts enthusiast Ken Stradling who died in 2022. The store survived the Bristol Blitz in World War Two.

'Huge loss'

The BBC has spoken to former employees of The Guild who said the closure was a "huge loss" to Bristol.

Charlotte Agnes, who worked Christmas and summer shifts between 2015 and 2019, said she was "saddened" by the announcement.

"Even as a teenager covering Christmas shifts, to work there was to be part of a Bristol institution," she said.

"It's something I was - and still am - very proud of.

"There’s nowhere like the Guild. Park Street and Bristol will be at a loss without it."

Jo Barnes said she went from working on Saturdays in 1981 to becoming head of jewellery three years later.

She said: "I was so sad to hear it is closing as I have lots of happy memories of working there.

"Since then I regularly visited for shopping trips. It's a Bristol institution and will be sadly missed.

"It's a huge loss to the city. A unique shop with a wonderful history selling crafts which you couldn't find anywhere else."

Lea Knight worked part-time at The Guild between 1996 and 1998. She said she loved working there.

"It inspired me to become a design and technology teacher," she said.

"I remember a lovely lady called June and Ken Stradling who encouraged me to go to university even though I was in my thirties with children."

Ken Stradling, who was The Guild's managing director, was awarded an MBE in 2020 in recognition for his services to Bristol's cultural life.

When he retired he founded The Ken Stradling Collection in Park Row in 2006 and established a charitable trust to give it a permanent home.

The BBC has approached The Guild for comment.

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