Google & the Great British High Street
A Virtual Tour for Bristol’s Gloucester Road
Wander along Gloucester Road in Bristol, reputedly the home of the largest stretch of independent traders in one street in the UK, and you’ll experience an eclectic mix of individual places to explore. This is a road brimming with affable independents offering a lively and bohemian collection of shops, pubs, clubs, cafes, restaurants and art studios.
More than 20 Gloucester Road businesses were keen to take up the opportunity of a Google Business tour this summer. We’ve photographed an assortment of retailers, from those selling toys, flowers, wine, wall tiles, flooring and party supplies, to some of the more retro outlets offering old-fashioned sweets, vinyl records and vintage goods. Add to these a Turkish bakery, pizza parlour, bar/restaurant, hair and beauty salons, opticians, PC services and sign manufacturer, and we’ve got a pretty good portfolio of businesses in just one road.
Specialist retailer Prime Cuts Music Exchange, which sells classic vinyl albums, CDs and DVDs, even came up with a quirky solution to get around the issue of not showing recognisable people on Google - using album sleeves depicting famous faces to cover those of their actual customers and staff.
“We love the finished tour – it’s brilliant,” said Prime Cut’s proprietor Michael Savage-Jones. “We send orders to many customers overseas, so it’s great that everyone can now see for themselves just what our shop is like.”
Better Reach has always enjoyed working with smaller individual businesses, and to meet so much enthusiasm and creativity in one street was fantastic. What better way to showcase the diverse mix of businesses that make up Gloucester Road to an audience all over the world?
View Larger Map Some of our favourite other tours are:
Shanti - A regular 'Aladdins Cave'
Natural Born Flooring
Poppers the Party Shop
Tart Cafe and Food Store explore all their back rooms
RePsycho - Vintage goods
Playful - Toys
Bristanbul - Turkish bakery (you must try their cakes!)
Planet Pizza - Quirky Pizza Names - Amazing food
Bishopston Tiles - Tiles for everywhere
Grape & Grind - Wine Merchant
Scrumptiously Sweet
Zazu’s Kitchen - Restaurant
Nuala Hair Studio
The Flower Shop
Lunar Optical
Date: 12 October 2013
Author: The 360 Company