Why We Opened a Shop on Bournemouth High Street in 2026

OK so I'm going to be honest with you. When we told people we were opening a physical store on Bournemouth high street, most of them thought we were completely mad. And there were definitely moments where I looked at the empty units around us, read another headline about the death of the high street, and wondered if they were right. It was scary. Really scary, actually.

But something kept pulling us forward, and I want to tell you about it, partly because I think it's a story worth sharing, and partly because I know there are other small brands out there sitting with a big idea and not quite knowing whether to go for it. So here we are, writing this having just opened our doors, butterflies and all.

It started with a building we couldn't stop thinking about

The space we found had been a Yellow Buses ticket office, this gorgeous building right in the centre of Bournemouth that had been completely empty since Covid. Every time I walked past it I thought, what a waste. It had so much potential and nothing was happening with it at all. When we found out the rent was low compared to all the bigger vacant units nearby, something clicked. For a small independent brand, the financial risk of a high street store is very real, and we knew that. But this felt like the window we'd been waiting for, the one that made it feel possible rather than just a bit reckless.

Something I kept noticing every time I travelled

The other piece of this had been building in my head for years. On trips to Paris, Brighton and York, I kept noticing the same thing everywhere I went. The typical high street store was struggling, yes, but the community-led spaces? The little studios and shops built around an experience, a feeling, a reason to actually leave the house and show up? They were absolutely buzzing. Full of people, full of life, full of the kind of energy you just cannot get from scrolling through Instagram.

And I could see it starting to happen here too. Pop-ups doing brilliantly, pottery cafes fully booked and craft experiences with waiting lists. I really believe that post-Covid, people are craving genuine human connection in a way that feels different to before. Not the filtered, curated kind we get on social media, but the real kind. The sitting-with-your-friends-and-making-something kind. People are exhausted from screens and doom-scrolling and the relentless noise of it all, and they are actively seeking out spaces that offer something different.

The high street isn't dying. It's changing.

This is something we feel really strongly about. What's actually dying is the kind of shop that exists purely to sell you something you could just as easily buy online. Those shops don't have a strong enough reason to exist anymore and honestly, the market knows it. But a space that gives you something a screen simply cannot; that is what we wanted to create. Community isn't going anywhere, and if anything, we think we need a lot more of it.

Pineapple Island has always been about community and craft. Our jewellery is handmade, tactile and personal, and the making of it has always been at the heart of what we do. So opening a space where people could come in, slow down, sit with their friends and make something with their own hands felt less like a business decision and more like something we'd been building towards without even realising it.

A slower kind of shop

The interior was something I took on myself, drawing on elements from a Bali studio design I'd worked on with a local interior designer called Nick Scott a couple of years before. Live edge tables, the feel of a traditional jewellery studio, weathered tiles, natural wood, trays and trays of beads, beautiful imagery and artwork and open space designed to bring people together. A jewellery studio/beach shack hybrid in the middle of the high street, basically. And the view... I think it's one of the best views in Bournemouth outside of the beach itself. You can sit and make jewellery looking out over Bournemouth Gardens, watching the world go by, and it feels a million miles from the high street outside.

You can walk in or book online to make your own jewellery, bracelets, necklaces, anklets and earrings, choosing from our wide range of beads to create something that is completely and entirely yours. There are how-to guides if you want to go at your own pace, or one of our team can sit with you and help you design something completely unique. It really is for everyone, whether you've never made jewellery in your life or you've already got a vision in your head and just need the space to bring it to life.

We also carry our full jewellery collection in store, so you can either make jewellery with your own hands, or wear jewellery made by ours. And there's tea, coffee and matcha on hand throughout, because honestly the best creative sessions always go better with something delicious to drink.

There is something so therapeutic about making things with your hands. About switching off from your phone, stepping away from your to-do list and just being present and creative for a little while. That's what we want this space to feel like, a proper exhale in the middle of your day.

We've just opened and we are absolutely buzzing

In my branding career so far, this is one of the hardest things I have worked on. I know it will keep evolving as we see how people move through the space and what they respond to, and I love that about it. Testing has gone well and we're ready now.

Writing this having just opened feels vulnerable in the best kind of way. We don't have the data yet, or the reviews, or the proof that it all worked. All we have is the conviction that brought us here, and the excitement of what's happening. And I think that's worth sharing, especially if you're someone sitting on your own big idea right now wondering if you're a little bit mad for considering it.