Opening of watch lounge

Bradleys expands with dedicated Watch Lounge

Bradleys the Jewellers has opened a new watch department after expanding the size of its shop in Harrogate.

The retailer has expanded into a floor of the store previously used as a relaxation area. The floor is now dedicated to both new and pre-owned watches.

The Watch Lounge, which opened for business on December 5, has branded furniture from watch houses including Raymond Weil, Montblanc, Tissot and Rado.

A quarter of the floorspace in the Watch Lounge has been given over to pre-owned watch brands, an area of business that Bradleys director Peter Bradley Jnr. told WatchPro has been booming.

Bradley went on to say that the reaction from its customers in the first few weeks of the Watch Lounge have been "absolutely fantastic".

He added: "We’ve had an awesome start to trading. We have had furniture made from some Swatch Group brands – Tissot and Rado, for example, have the largest amount of furniture outside London in our store. We’ve had nearly all of the furniture made bespoke, including the Montblanc area.

"We’ve also opened our pre-owned watch department as well. Preowned watches have grown massively over the last couple of years."

To celebrate the opening of the Watch Lounge, Bradleys teamed up with 88 Rue du Rhone, one of the watch brands in the new Watch Lounge, to host a launch party for 100 guests. The watch brand loaned Bradleys 12 archived photos from the Baftas Past Forward exhibition to display in the store, which feature stars including Audrey Hepburn, Richard Attenborough, Brad Pitt and Martin Scorsese.

Providing entertainment for guests during the evening were soprano and harp duo Anna-Clare Monk and Lauren Scott. 2012 X-Factor runner up Jahmene Douglas also made an appearance at the event.

88 Rue du Rhone UK chief executive Craig Leach said: “We are so pleased to have been invited to support the Bradley family. Their store looks fantastic and we have had a thoroughly enjoyable evening in Harrogate.”

Bradleys will celebrate a decade in business in January. The family business now has seven stores in total, including a new Swarovski boutique that opened in Harrogate at the beginning of the month.

 

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