The Shop at Bluebird to open in London's Covent garden

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 22, 2017

Jigsaw-owned luxury concept store The Shop at Bluebird is to open in Central London’s Covent Garden early next year. This is big news for the retailer that until now was best known for its 12-year-old store at the top end of the King’s Road in Chelsea.

The new location will expose it to a massive amount of passing tourist trade rather than just the locals and dedicated fashion-seekers it attracts at its original store. Its presence will also help add to Covent garden’s luxury profile with the area currently dominated by more affordable and mid-market brands.

The new 15,000 sq ft, three-storey site is at Carriage Hall on Floral Street, which is a listed 19th century building that has been extensively revamped and upgraded. It now has a large glass atrium and hosted a number of events for London Fashion Week in recent days. The new store will replicate the full Bluebird lifestyle experience with a large restaurant to be included on the second floor.

Under the leadership of Claire Miles, the original store has become a fashion destination and is known for stocking major fashion names such as Marni and Alexander McQueen, as well as its curation of interesting international brands and its quirky themed seasonal makeovers.

While the retailer already has a second standalone in Guildford and also trades from space in Jigsaw’s Emporium stores in Duke Street and St James’s, the new move is perhaps its biggest yet. It’s also a confident statement about the strength of fashion lifestyle concept stores in London, a strength also illustrated too by Dover Street Market’s expansion into eh previous Burberry building at the lower end of Regent Street.

Floral Street is sandwiched between Covent Garden’s historic Piazza and main shopping thoroughfare Long Acre. It is a busy location just around the corner from each of these but with a focus on luxury. It has a long-standing Paul Smith presence there, as well as stores for Agnès B and Kent & Curwen. Floral Street as a whole has seen a major  upgrade in recent periods with a number of redevelopments designed to boost its luxury status.

Peter Ruis, CEO of The Jigsaw Group, said: “The Shop at Bluebird is London’s foremost concept store. In Carriage Hall and Covent Garden, we have found the ultimate opportunity to take it to the next level.

“In a world full of mediocre,  identikit shop concepts, the Shop at Bluebird will be a celebration of only the finest in luxury fashion, beauty, home, lifestyle and food. It will be an international destination for all those who seek excellence in retail.”