New Store Offers Furnishings on a Grand Scale

Published on: 22 Dec, 2017
Updated on: 30 Dec, 2017

The new Barker and Stonehouse Store

By Alice Fowler

It’s been a long time coming – but the Barker and Stonehouse furniture store is open at last. In a prominent site on the Ladymead/Stoke Road junction, this glass and wood emporium offers furnishings on a grand scale. Expect to find styles from industrial chic to Scandi, gentlemen’s club to country cottage, plus a host of others in between.

The store’s official opening is on Boxing Day, when the sale begins. But keen shoppers are already welcome, with a ‘soft opening’ underway this week.

Inside is a cavernous space…

Inside is a cavernous space – bigger inside than it appears externally – crammed with beds, sofas, dining tables, lighting, soft furnishings and more, including established brands such as Duresta, Vispring and Ercol. Also on offer upstairs is the Queensbury coffee house, offering teas, coffees, pastries and sandwiches.

Development of the site – formerly the fire station – has been controversial, with concerns about its impact on the St John’s churchyard and nearby homes. But landscaping around the site is bedding in well, with young trees planted along the churchyard boundary. And the building itself, sleekly designed in glass and wood, sits well in its landmark setting.

The Barker and Stonehouse brand has its roots in the North East.

The Barker and Stonehouse brand has its roots in the North East, its first store opening 71 years ago in Stockton-on-Tees. Still run by the Barker family, it now boasts stores throughout the North. Guildford is its third southern store, following Battersea and Hove.

This major opening joins other furniture retailers who have recently opened to the town, including Sofa.com and Neptune, with Loaf promised in the Tunsgate redevelopment.

However, in the great dance that is Guildford retail, Multiyork in North Street is holding its closing down sale. Out with the old, in with the new: and, with free parking and covered bike racks for cyclists, Barker and Stonehouse looks set to be an exciting new addition.