Begg Shoes
The legendary Scottish shoe company steps south of the border, choosing Market Harborough as the new home for its very first English branch. We spoke to Donald Begg about the exciting opening.
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The company has such a long history, can you tell us a bit about it and why you decided to open in Harborough?
Of course! We’re an award-winning family-run business that started in the north of Scotland way back in 1866. Our team is currently managed by the sixth generation of the Begg family. For over 150 years, we’ve been growing our presence in Scotland and now have nine stores, reaching all the way up to the Shetland Isles. This new location is pretty special for us, as it’s our tenth store and our very first one south of the border. When it came to picking a new spot, Market Harborough was the perfect choice. It’s exactly the kind of town where we believe independent businesses can really thrive. We can’t wait to get to know the community, help our new customers find their perfect pair of shoes and add something unique to the high street here. What can customers expect from the new store? You can expect a modern shoe shopping experience. We’re bringing in new and exciting footwear you won’t find anywhere else, including exclusive styles from top European designers. We’ve also expanded our selection of popular fashion brands like Birkenstock, Hoff and Crocs, alongside well-known names like Barbour and Bugatti. For those who love the outdoors, you’ll be happy to see our new range of active and walking shoes from brands like Scarpa, Merrell and Keen. We’ve also got all your other footwear needs covered, from cosy slippers to occasion shoes with matching bags to complete your look. What services do you offer? We’ve really focused on making the shopping experience as easy and enjoyable as possible, both in-store and online. We offer a Loyalty Rewards program, where you get a £10 voucher for every £200 you spend, and our brilliant team is always ready with our bespoke fitting service to help you find the perfect pair, tailored to your needs. If a style isn’t in stock at our Market Harborough store, we can easily have it delivered from another location directly to your home or to the store for free, giving you access to thousands of styles. To make things even more convenient, our website offers free home delivery, free click & collect and free returns to the store. This means you can browse our full collection from the comfort of your home and still get the perfect fit. We want to make sure you have all the options you need to find your new favourite shoes. What one product are you most excited for customers to discover? While there isn’t one single product, we are very excited to share the Creator boot range with Market Harborough. Our team and our customers just love them! They are known for using the softest Portuguese leathers to create a stylish and durable collection of statement boots. Plus, each style comes in an amazing selection of bold, vibrant colours. Have you had time to explore the town? One of the things that drew us to Market Harborough was its charming high street and strong community spirit, and it has not disappointed! We’ve spent a lot of time just soaking in the atmosphere. We love the mix of historic buildings with the modern, bustling energy of the local shops. The town’s historic market is fantastic, and we’ve really enjoyed popping into different places to grab a quick coffee or a bite to eat. It’s a town with so much character and we are looking forward to getting to know everyone and discovering even more hidden gems. What are your hopes for the next 12 months? We’re really focused on settling into Market Harborough and getting to know our new community. Our hope is to hear from you and learn what you love, so please don’t be shy about giving us suggestions! Our goal is always to make sure our range of footwear is perfectly tailored to what our customers need. While our focus right now is on boots and snug footwear for the colder months, we are already hard at work on our Spring and Summer 2026 collections. We have so many exciting new styles in the pipeline, and we can’t wait to show you what is coming in the New Year. Begg Shoes can be found at 9 Abbey Street, Market Harborough and is open 9am – 5pm Monday to Saturday beggshoes.com
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Issue 27
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