Bags of Style
Cover: The Shambles, York This page: Shopping in Sheffield
A shopping spree in Yorkshire is like nothing else, with numerous towns and cities offering every option from boutique designer gear to contemporary crafts and great gifts.
Travel south to Sheffield and sample the continental atmosphere of leafy Ecclesall Road with its fashionable boutiques. For the professional shoppers out there, Sheffield’s Meadowhall Shopping Centre is just nirvana, with hundreds of outlets to choose from.
Pocket Guide
TV’s Queen of Customer Service, Founder of award winning business transformation organisation - Insight with Passion, and industry commentator to BBC, ITV and Sky News as well as many prevalent trade publications.
Shopping in Yorkshire
KATE HARDCASTLE
Boutique shops, cosmopolitan streets and designer hotspots. Yorkshire is a refreshingly different experience.
“I am passionate about great business, fantastic retail and the customer being at the heart of everything. I’m delighted to share Yorkshire examples with you.”
If you aspire to truly elegant shopping, then make your first stop the Victoria Quarter in Leeds. Here, sumptuous marble-lined Victorian arcades house countless high quality boutiques and no visit would be complete without a pilgrimage to Harvey Nichols. But there’s plenty of elegant shopping beyond this ‘Knightsbridge of the North’. Saunter around Harrogate’s Montpellier Quarter, and savour the well-heeled ambience created by immaculate galleries and antique shops.
Traditional Yorkshire craftsmanship
Welcome to our catwalk in the country
Bombay Stores in Bradford
Welcome to the world’s most scenic shopping centre, welcome to Yorkshire. From boutique shops in high streets nestled among rolling green hills to some of the UK’s biggest shopping centres – we’ve got the lot. So whether you are looking for a stylish, cutting edge city shopping experience or a more tranquil yet discerning retail exploration around our towns and villages – you won’t be disappointed. We hope this guide inspires you to explore Yorkshire and find your own fashion.
Gary Verity Chief Executive, Welcome to Yorkshire
For more information about shopping in Yorkshire go to yorkshire.com/shopping
For a complete contrast - try traditional-turned-trendy Hebden Bridge, where nearly every shop is an independent and there are over 100 to explore! Or meander along The Shambles in York, one of Europe’s finest medieval streets where all manner of unusual shops jostle for your attention. Alternatively, why not try shopping in our award winning coastal resorts. Head east to the Yorkshire coast and the waterfront development of St Stephens Retail and Leisure Centre in Hull, with its stylish under cover high street or travel further north and discover the hidden gems of the Market Vaults in Scarborough, where friendly locals trade their wares. In contrast to all of this, who could resist the colour and pageant of Bombay Stores in Bradford? Packed to the gunnels with Asian jewellery, shimmering saris and lavish fabrics. And of course if you’re a serious bargain hunter, there’s nothing like one of the colourful traditional markets in every town and city. For an excellent place to shop try the markets in Bradford, Todmorden, Bingley, Leeds, Doncaster and all across Yorkshire.
St Stephen’s Shopping Centre in Hull
Shopping in Holmfirth
Antique hunting
Get the vintage look Vintage fashion has never been more popular, and Yorkshire boasts some of the best places to find retro clothes and accessories from foppish Edwardian days, the sharp-suited 1940s, the dawn of rock and roll or the 70s heyday of disco. With interest in the vintage look exploding, Yorkshire’s classic clothing boutiques seem to be ahead of the trend. But remember, their stock in trade is irreplaceable. Virtually every item is one of a kind – so if you’re
looking to snap up anything from a satin 50s wedding dress to a pair of snappy cufflinks, the time to start shopping is now. Get your style fix at the award winning vintage clothing store Upstaged in Leeds, or over in Hyde Park visit Vintage Underground, packed with funky homewares. Just a short drive away in Ilkley, you will find Cake Walk Handmade and Vintage for a collection of vintage treasures and handmade delights!
Barnsley Market
Going up market Yorkshire’s markets are wonderful places to visit, where you’ll find everything from fresh foods to fabric, clothing to crockery, and everything else in between. Visit them once and you’ll want to come back again and again!
Antiques shopping in Skipton
Hunting and searching for collectables are ever more popular hobbies and Yorkshire is bursting at the seams with all kinds of remarkable antiques. If you are looking to buy or simply to browse the thousands of quality antiques and collectables, Yorkshire offers many outstanding antique shops, showcasing art deco and art nouveau pieces, 18th and 19th century furniture and silverware and even genuine roman coins. Yorkshire is an Aladdin’s cave just waiting to be explored.
From the coastal treasures of the Georgian Antiques Centre in Bridlington and Antiques & Home in Filey, to Harrogate’s largest antique emporium at The Harrogate Antiques Centre and antique shops around every corner in the Yorkshire Dales, including Tennants award winning, purpose built Auction House and Restaurant in the heart of Wensleydale, a fourth generation family run business with 24 specialist departments holding over 60 auctions a year.
Birds Yard in Leeds, Winner of best vintage at Leeds Retail Awards
From the lively open air market in Leeds, where Michael Marks first opened his Penny Bazaar which lead ultimately to the foundation of Marks & Spencer, to the biggest traditional market in the North at Doncaster and the vibrant atmosphere of the famous Beverley Market. Farmers’ markets are
Salt’s Mill in Saltaire
also increasingly popular as a means of buying locally produced food and there is a real buzz around the quality of award winning local food on offer. Yorkshire’s historic market towns are enjoying a revival in fortunes. Discover retail gems such as Verb Dresses of Bedale, North Yorkshire. Their most famous customer has recently placed yet another order, and that discerning client is no other than Buckingham Palace. Their new flagship brand has been named Institution, where you’ll find a stunning selection of gowns. Or over in Skipton, indulge your childhood memories at Sweet Treats old-fashioned sweet shop.
A flavour of Yorkshire
Victoria Quarter, Leeds
High street fashion When shopping in Yorkshire’s towns and cities you will find some of the best high street shopping opportunities around, and you’ll be spoilt for choice! Fargate in the centre of Sheffield is great for High Street names with an emphasis on fashion stores. In West Yorkshire, explore a wealth of choice at The Woolshops Shopping
Centre in Halifax with many of your favourite high street names. The Victoria Quarter in Leeds is home to over 70 of the world’s leading fashion and lifestyle brands. Skipton has beaten the likes of Portobello Road and Kensington High Street to win Britain’s Best Street of the Year, so a big thumbs up for shopping lovers! Explore our shopping heritage at the Marks in Time exhibition showing 125 years of M&S in Leeds.
Image: Wensleydale Creamery, Hawes
Yorkshire has a rich heritage of arts and craftsmanship, with many shops and workshops dedicated to both the traditional and contemporary. Salt’s Mill in Saltaire is the place to find the beautiful and the unusual. Paintings, designer and craft shops, classic furniture and handmade jewellery sit alongside David Hockney pictures. Cat lovers will find a perfect ornament for their lawn at The Cat Pottery
in West Burton. Ilkley has a centre that allows visitors to create their own works of art in a ceramics café at Create, experience watercolour painting for yourself with Ashley Jackson in Holmfirth or explore an eclectic mix of ever-changing work by UK based designers at the Heart Gallery in Hebden Bridge. Holmfirth Art Week is a great opportunity to view and buy the work of local artists. Alternatively, to see Sheffield craftsmanship at its best and view some of the finest pewter, silver and steelware around, visit The Famous Sheffield Shop.
Independent shops & boutiques
Yorkshire is famous for providing the finest local produce and foodie gifts. The county’s farm shops, markets and specialist delis offer a multitude of delights which include mature grass-fed beef, Dales lamb, delicious cheeses and chutneys, rhubarb, apples, chocolate and beer or for those with a sweet tooth, check out some of the county’s great ice cream producers. And you’re sure to find the buzz of Yorkshire life at the many markets too! Enjoy the very best local awardwinning food homemade and prepared by experts at Blacker Hall Farm, a bustling hive of activity in Wakefield, enjoy a wedge of Swaledale Cheese or watch the famous Wensleydale Cheese being handcrafted at the Wensleydale Creamery in Hawes. Alternatively, browse for culinary inspiration or look for special gifts in Yorkshire’s many farm shops and delis or at the many food and drink festivals in the area, including the ones at Huddersfield, York and Wakefield, to mention but a few.
Arts & Crafts
Yorkshire’s independent and unique shops range from the eclectic to the luxurious. Wander the web of shopping streets in Yorkshire’s cities, towns and picturesque villages, to browse an amazing array of shops and boutiques in stunning locations. For a little history with your shopping, York’s oldest medieval area, The Shambles is packed with independent stores and designer boutiques. In West Yorkshire, Hebden Bridge has built a reputation for great little independent shops.
York Designer Outlet
Cruise the malls Yorkshire is retail heaven for the discerning shopper, with an abundance of designer outlets just waiting to be explored. In South Yorkshire, cruise the malls of Meadowhall, Sheffield and find everything under one roof or discover a unique shopping experience with many independent shops at Leeds Corn Exchange. For visitors with designs on a high quality bargain, visit York’s own Designer Outlet on the southern ring road or step right out of your car and enjoy late night shopping at York’s Monks Cross Shopping Centre.
For the perfect place to grab a bargain, the factory outlet village of Hornsea Freeport has landscaped surroundings and a relaxed atmosphere, where you shop at your leisure, discovering leading high street names. Opening in spring 2013, Trinity Leeds is a retail hot spot that will continue to evolve and inspire. It is spread across a tapestry of arcades that traverse three of the busiest shopping streets in Leeds, attracting international brands and boutiques or snap up a quick purchase at Trinity Walk in Wakefield, with over 60 new shops including all the leading high street fashion brands.
Shopping in historic York
Travel South to Sheffield and walk through the Devonshire Quarter and it’s wealth of upmarket independent stores. Try shopping in the lovely old Yorkshire market towns of Helmsley, Malton and Beverley, mooch around the independent shops in The Piece Hall, Halifax, explore an eclectic mix of gifts and beautiful clothing at The Carding Shed in Holmfirth or the pretty boutique-style shops along Bar Street in Scarborough and the cobbled quirky shopping streets of Whitby. Staying along the coast, Bridlington Old Town is a special place brimming with local, independent shops and boutiques. So, have your reusable shopping bag at the ready, as you explore our interesting independents and one-off boutiques.
Independent shopping in Haworth