Bristol Guild

The recent renovation has left Guild looking so much more ordered and modern. The café has had an overhaul, and the selection of ‘fine food’ upstairs is just fantastic.

This is such a brilliant little place, and fits perfectly with the boutique-​style shops all along Park Street. Bristol Guild is a great little shop, offering loads of different and alternative designer-​style things that you wouldn’t be able to pick up anywhere else. They sell a selection of gourmet foods — including special alcohols and fine fancies — as well as more durable things like furniture goods, home-​ware, kitchen-​ware, frames, jewellery etc. They manage to fit a lot into one building, and you could easily while away a fair amount of time browsing through all that they have to offer.
I would love to be able to afford to shop here, but as it is I only ever find myself window-​shopping and leaving with nothing. Although prices are high, their stuff is great quality and really beautiful so you can understand why this is the case. They do have a lot of quirky little gift type things for cheaper though, and this is the ideal place to buy a lovely present for a friend if you want to get something a bit different.
As well as the shop, Bristol Guild also has a terrace café upstairs which is quaint and lovely — especially on a summers day when you can soak in the rays over a refreshment with a friend. You really would think this place couldn’t offer more, but it does — they offer a wedding service as well and also put on a variety of art themed events. I think this place is brilliant, and if you are headed down Park Street then pop in even if its just for a quick window shop!

Bristol Guild of Applied Art is the kind of shop where you can waste away hours just admiring the vast variety of products on offer. It has a fresh feel, the large floor to ceiling windows at the front of the store make the floor space light and open — the perfect setting to display the merchandise.
Bristol Guild has so much to offer from greetings cards to gardening equipment, from traditional train sets to tea pots. I am always fascinated by the homeware products by new designers; innovative ideas to make every day life that little bit easier. The toy section is a celebration of more traditional children’s toys which have all been beautifully made.
The only downside to Bristol Guild is the price, you do have to pay for the quality of these high calibre products, but you do get what you pay for. However, I do recommend a visit — you may not go in needing anything but you’ll leave wanting lots.

This shop has been in existence, in one form or another, for over 100 years and has evolved into a sleek and stylish independent gallery and shop for homeware and art. Difficult to pinpoint, the Guild offers not just ridiculously over priced kitchen accessories but also smaller trinkets and gifts, postcards and gourmet food — you know the kind, fancy jars of jelly beans and unpronounceable preserves.
The various sections within this surprisingly large shop cater for the kitchens, living rooms and what I consider the best bit — kids bedrooms. Cuddly toys and traditional board games are on offer, as well as the more unusual, such as life-​size green dogs made from moulded rubber.
Bristol Guild is the kind of place I imagine Kirsty Allsopp would frequent if she lived round these parts, and is somewhere that should make it on to your list if visiting the area.

Bristol Guild has been something of an institution on Park Street for more than a century and it is easy to see why. It is the perfect place to pick up plush cookware and original gifts for friends and family. The building is huge and feels like several shops blended into one. But there are exciting nooks and crannies stuffed to the seams with really cool stock.
They also do a wedding list service– something I wish I had known last year! They stock the more on trend cookery items from brands like Joseph Joseph, Alessi and Eva Solo but you will also find innovative gadgets and unique brands. And there’s a great kids toys selection and rack upon rack of high-​quality greetings cards to browse. Upstairs is a gallery showcasing incredible crafts and there are regular exhibitions in the Guild Gallery.

Bristol Guild is a sophisticated collection of shops under one roof selling quality goods, and if you shop carefully you can find some great bits and bobs.
Various areas stock different types of goods such as kitchenware, children’s toys, bath stuff, specialist foods, greetings cards, and jewellery.
Some of the stuff sold is quite expensive, but other items are really good value, such as the chunky bars of soap laid out near the front of the shop — try the cucumber or carrot bars, both of which are divine. I’ve picked up well-​made wooden jigsaws here, and other hand-​crafted toys as gifts for my nephew and niece, plus greetings cards with fresh designs that aren’t run-​of-​the-​mill. And in the food section there are all sorts of preserves, organic wines and spirits, chocolates and other sweet treats such as Turkish Delight.
The jewellery section is nice to browse, but a lot of the items are a bit too chunk for my liking — while the kitchenware section is expensive but very tempting!

So many cute things! Contemporary homeware, deluxe diningware, gifts, picture frames also stocks some V&A goods which I adore. I love looking in this store, I treat it a bit like going to an art gallery, stocked with beautiful things I want but cannot afford and really don’t need.
If you don’t have the money to fritter on yourself, do come here if you are looking for a classy gift. A friend of mine got his missus the contemporary dog when she said she wanted a real dog :-)

Bristol Guild is a small gallery crammed full of things. It’s quite narrow in here but they sure know how to get as much in as possible! Just don’t visit with large bags or a clumsy personality! There are some hidden gems in here if you are willing to give the gallery some quality time, however I have never really found anything that tickles my fancy. Staff pretty much stay in the background and won’t approach you unless you go up to them.
They have a nice coffee shop at the back of the gallery if you have exhausted all your energy supplies. It has a nice terrace overlooking Park Street if you are able to brave the cold and rain too!

A higher-​end version of Habitat, The Guild offers the very best of local design. I rarely buy anything here (it’s all a little out of my price range) but it’s definitely my favourite shop on Park Street to window shop in. As well as offering larger pieces like sofas and stalls, you’ll find kitchen ware, and jewellery.
There’s also a fun, unique small gifts sections stocking gadgets, stationary and executive toys.

I would love to be able to afford to shop in this place. It has some wonderful pieces of contemporary furniture design and some excellent ornamental pieces that would really add a touch of individuality to the home.
Unfortunately it’s very, very expensive and I mostly browse the shop imagining how great stuff would look in my house if only I had £400 to spend on a single chair. It’s not all out of my price range though and their selection of original gift cards are great if you’re looking for that something a little bit different.
Some of their smaller utensils can also be quite good as gift ideas. I’ve never actually bought anything myself, but some of their cutlery sets are quite nice and could make a pretty decent wedding present.

This is a perfect place to pick up a souvenir or gift and is ideally situated on Park Street. I got what I was looking for — a coffee maker thingamy and some ground coffee beans — for a little more than I would have liked to pay. But I convinced myself that the Bristol Guild must be the sort of place that would provide quality goods. The staff were helpful and friendly, directing me to the back of the store where the kitchen goods are kept. I was delighted with the range of products on offer and would definitely recommend it as a good place to come Christmas shopping now it’s that time of year.

A design-​led department store which makes for a great place to head for presents. Although it says Bristol the products inside are from international brands. Sections include:
A corridor of greetings cards which are different from the usual bunch.
A fantastic kitchenware section with utensils and bakeware to drool over, including brands such as Alessi.
A jewellery and crafts section upstairs which is OK — it is like a little maze upstairs so fun to poke about but I have never found anything I particularly liked.
Possibly the best toy selection in Bristol — very cool toys and puzzles for kids and adults alike.
A general gifty section with unusual items, cufflinks, space pens and gadgets.
Definitely worth a look round!

Marketing themselves as ‘one of the country’s greatest independent retailers’, Bristol Guild is, I suppose, a department store on Park Street. I’m unsure because it doesn’t feel like a department store — more like four or five shops that have been stuck together.
There’s sections for kitchenware, food, and lighting, amongst numerous others. With all of the stuff they sell they go for quality over price. This means things like corkscrews that look like they had a five man design team and elegant bedside stands made of solid oak. You don’t necessarily need deep pockets here, though. It’s certainly somewhere you can pick up cheap birthday gifts — a tea towel for my Mum coming from here last year.
Bristol Guild has succeeded in humanising the department store experience a bit, I think its just a shame they choose to focus on expensive goods. An alternative to marks and sparks to give your home some sophistication.

This is a very good place to look for presents, especially Christmas presents. There is a wonderful department filled with well chosen delicacies from around the world. and the children’s toy department is also fantastic, full of old fashioned toys and games.

Beautiful shop located on Park Street and stuffed full of gorgeous and aspirational gifts, toys, food and homewares. Pretty much everything in there is a triumph of decoration over functionality but I like that sort of thing. It probably goes without saying that a lot of it is also extremely expensive but wandering about and having a look is thankfully free.

The Bristol Guild stocks lots of really high quality hand-​crafted products made by local artists and craftsmen.
There are always loads of interesting things to discover in this shop and the window display is always bright and welcoming.

I love this type of independent store — one that sells a variety of really good quality items that are a little different and extra-​special. I can’t help myself but I always panic when I am buying a gift, I am such a perfectionist so I want the person receiving it to absolutely love it. It is shops like this that keep me sane — they always seem to have an edge on high street chains. The stock items that just scream stylish, elite, cool…
You wouldn’t guess from the outside how much there actually is to the Guild. There are loads of rooms /​sections with everything from furniture, lighting, crafts, perfect cards, ornamental kitchen /​dining pieces and great kiddie section to yummy and specialist food stuffs. In each, there is a little bit of contemporary, classic and alternative to suit all tastes.
I also discovered they do wedding lists which I think is brilliant. A perfect store for the perfect gift.

Bristol Guild is reached after a steep climb up Park Street but the quality of hand crafted goods makes the walk well worthwhile.
The Guild sells high quality toiletries from the EVelyn and Crabtree range, old fashioned toys and mouth watering food as well as jewellry homeware crafted by local artists.
Great at Christmas with lots of ideas for stocking fillers and beautiful cards and paper, the Guild is also worth vising in the new year for sale reduced bargains.