Finding the right gift for someone is never easy. A gift shop in Beeston hidden away from the hustle and bustle of the main High Street may have the perfect gift for a loved one. On 97A, Beeston High Road is Ideas, a gift shop that has been running since 1986.
Ideas caught our attention. After seeing nothing but praise for the Beeston gift shop online, Community Reporter Keimae Blake paid the store a visit…
Gift shops are often associated more closely with holidays, as locations where tourists will pick up something to take back as a gift for relatives, As handy as the Card Factory is, there’s another shop in Beeston that has a wonderful collection of gifts and collectors items.
Owners, Helen and Roy, who asked for their surnames not be shared, spoke about what the past 36 years has been like owning Ideas. Roy told Nottinghamshire Live: “We repair watches and clocks, the gift shop is separate, we get a lot of regulars. Our customers are friendly, we get a lot of older people coming in.”
Inside the store, you will find jewellery, birthstone balls, clocks, watches, mugs, purses, cards and more. Roy continued and said: “There’s not many shops like this anymore, I don’t think that people realise if they don’t come on the high road, there won’t be shops.
“We hear a lot of women come in and say they wish there were more shoe shops in Beeston.”
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Speaking about any famous people who have wandered into the store at one point or another in the last 36 years. Roy said: “We’ve had Sherrie Hewson come in before, and we’ve had the cast of Boon.
“There was also a film shot down here once, we were in a film based on Nottingham and they closed off Beeston High Street on a Saturday Night and they filmed until Monday.”
Speaking more about what the shop is like, bizarrely, Helen told Nottinghamshire Live that there’s also a furry friend which attracts people come to see in store. She said: “There’s a cat called Joey that sits outside the shop, people have come as far as London to come and see him [Joey.] We’ve had to put up a sign to not feed him.”
Joey, the Derby Street cat has over 400 followers on Instagram. Speaking more about the area Helen, who isn’t originally from Beeston said: “We’ve tried the Arc Cinema and that was really nice.
“Not a lot of people come this far down anymore and we use to get a few students in looking around and that seemed to stop too.”
As well as exceptional customer service, this gift shop in Beeston will have something for everyone. I left with a tealight burner for £9.99.
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