Plans have been submitted to change the exterior of the former Boots store on the corner of King’s Square and Goodramgate; the Boots branch closed in 2023 and the premises has been empty since.
The application to the City of York Council is by leading fashion, homewares and gift brand Oliver Bonas.
The business already has a store in Stonegate, which opened in 2015, in one of the city’s most historic buildings. However, The Press has been told the Stonegate shop will close and relocate to the King’s Square site.
Oliver Bonas is one of the UK’s leading independent lifestyle stores, specialising in women’s fashion, homeware and gifts with more than 80 stores in the UK and Ireland.
How the new Oliver Bonas store in York could look. Photo from planning applications
Now it is taking over the former Boots site and seeking permission to change the front of the shop, which is Grade II-listed, and repaint it in brand colours and hang new signage.
The application letter to the council says the company is applying for listed building consent for the signage – two fascia signs and two projecting signs.
The existing shopfront will be retained, will be painted green with white lettering and repaired where required.
While the date of the move is yet to be confirmed, The Press understand it is set to take place later in the year with Oliver Bonas moving over from its current store in Stonegate.
In its application, the brand revealed its plans to take over the lower ground floor, ground floor and first floor of the King’s Square shop where it will reposition stud walls to create a new layout for the building, install a new door, and change the lighting.
The outside of the shop will be painted in the Oliver Bonas signature pastel green colour and the brand intends to retain an existing stained-glass window that is currently in the building.
The top floors of the King’s Square shop will also be undergoing a transformation as they are turned into residential accommodation by owners, The Helmsley Group, the organisation which is also behind the Coney Street regeneration project.
The move of Oliver Bonas into King’s Square will mark a new era for the business, which began when Oliver Tress – better known as Olly – started selling the interesting things he found on his travels in a shop in Fulham back in 1993.
The current store at number 35 Stonegate is an historic building with an interesting heritage.
The timber frontage dates back to the 15th century and in 1682 Francis Hildyard opened his famous bookshop The Sign Of The Bible there.
The building became known as the House of the Bible, with a distinctive wooden bible still hanging over the front door.
More recently it was home to Haunted, owned by the late celebrity astrologer Jonathan Cainer.
For more public notices, check The Press daily and online at: publicnoticeportal.uk/york-press.
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