Shops / Features
The changing faces of the Clifton Triangle
A confluence of roads forms an elegant triangle of grand architecture.
This stretch of road has been home to some of the biggest names in Bristol commerce and has a fascinating, if sometimes scary, history.
IRA bombs exploded outside Maggs in 1978, an influential department store formerly located at 70-72 Queen’s Road.
is needed now More than ever
In the noughties, the Clifton Triangle was still one of Bristol’s most prestigious shopping districts: home to notable shops such as Borders and Bang & Olufsen.
Yet today most of these type of shops have closed, replaced by common names such as Greggs and Subway.
A new Wingstop, a fast food outlet with a site also in Cabot Circus, is just the latest in a series of standardised commercial expansions.
The new Wingstop on Queen’s Road is now one of a number of fast food chains
Whereas the 2010s saw the Clifton Triangle feature a range of clothes shops, like Jack Wills and White Stuff, this decade has instead made a clear move to big food chains.
Independent businesses have been hit hard by high pricing costs, with Nata & Co, a Portuguese bakery based in Cardiff and Bath, shutting in 2023 after only ten months of operations.
Now the main cafe offerings on the Clifton Triangle are Black Sheep Coffee, a chain with nearly 70 outfits, and Caffe Nero.
Jo’s Tea, an independent bubble tea shop, which operates on the former site of Nata and Co, has so far resisted these economic pressures.
The increased rental costs, which have priced out many businesses, has seen lots of space turned into housing, with the upper floor of Queen’s Road having been turned into luxury student accommodation by Urban Creation in 2022.
The above-shop floors are mainly luxury student accomodation
The changes seem to be limited in scope, however, with nearby Park Street still featuring many thriving independent businesses, and a walk just north of the Clifton Triangle runs past Little Bagel Co. and Spicer+Cole in the RWA.
Further changes are in store for the area, with Bristol City Council planning to redevelop the section of Queen’s Road next to the Victoria Rooms, merging two lanes into one, and restricting the number of cars permitted on Park Street.
Council bosses believe that the changes will help local businesses by increasing footfall, just the latest changes afoot in this corner of Bristol with a fascinating history and an uncertain future.
All photos: Morien Robertson
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