NEW YORK WHOLESALE

T HESE days The Exchange is known for superior quality and luxury goods – and when it opened in 1929, it was no different. Today, fashion stores such as Karen Millen, Jaeger and Austin Reed can be found in the shopping centre, but for many years one store occupied the whole of the city centre premises.

The iconic building became home to Burtons, a high-class greengrocers considered to be the Fortnum & Mason of Nottingham.

The company, founded by Derbyshire lad and miner's son Joseph Burton, who had arrived in Nottingham in 1858 to seek his fortune, ultimately made its home at The Exchange. Then known as The Exchange Arcade, this was, just as today, the part of the Council House building given over to commercial enterprise.

It had been a controversial decision to build a new Council House, but the modern, box-steel constructed building proved to be an ideal home for the Nottingham grocers.

The elegant building, erected at a time of world recession, was for the city fathers, in its scale and design, a demonstration of wealth and, perhaps above all, of pride in the city of Nottingham.

Of course, for Burtons, the move to The Exchange provided a perfect opportunity to market food in an even more flamboyant way as the new building with its high ceiling, beautiful dome, lavish art and glowing York and Bath stone provided the ideal back-drop to display the high class produce.

By the time of George VI's 1937 Coronation, displays had become so great that Burtons won the first prize of £5,000 in a Daily Mail-sponsored national shop window-dressing competition.

By the 1950s, Burtons had begun its famous Christmas displays in The Exchange, which attracted crowds simply to view them, a habit which lives on in Nottingham to this day.

The Exchange is still renowned for its wonderful decorations every Christmas, with a sumptuous new scheme planned this year.

The Coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953 also offered the company an opportunity to mount a magnificent display. Figures of Lifeguards troopers flanked every shop window – one of which was devoted to a display of copies of the Coronation regalia.

For 54 years, The Exchange had been synonymous with quality, luxury and top-class service, but in 1983, unable to compete against the rise of supermarkets, Burtons closed for the last time.

The city council put the premises out to commercial lease, and The Exchange was redeveloped as the privately owned shopping centre we know today.

Some things have changed in the 27 years since – the beautiful building is now Grade II* Listed – but the attention to service and the range of quality available from the centre's retailers remains. Food retailing is even coming back – centre management have recently announced the opening of a Patisserie Valerie store, due by August.

Today The Exchange isn't dominated by one store, but is home to an unrivalled mix of exclusive stores offering designer labels in fashion and jewellery, as well as quality gift and home shops.

When you find yourself "under the dome" the choice is yours – from original works by some of the world's leading artists to wines and spirits from the best producers on the planet; from tasteful fashion boutiques to the sweet temptations of gorgeous cakes and pastries.

The Exchange has it all – at the heart of Nottingham's shopping since 1929.