Cardiff Retail

St. David's expansion extended the centre to 1.6m square feet and provided a modern, covered mall which attracted a lot of new retailers to the city. Previously unavailable larger, multi floor units replaced generally small shops in The Capitol and Queen's Arcade which were not in demand. There was obviously a reduction in let space in the older centres, and for a while in Queen St, although this has mostly recovered.

Department stores have closed countrywide so I wouldn't say that this is due to a contraction in Cardiff's retail, more of a national change in shopping habits.

As The Capitol and Queen's Arcade are repurposed, Cardiff will still have a very large retail footprint and sadly the polar opposite to Newport and to a degree Swansea.

Where did I mention that this was not a national change in shopping habits? I specifically said "I don't think any city centre can be described as expanding when it comes to retail".

Cardiff already had "a large retail footprint compared to Newport, and to a degree Swansea", that's why your comments about Newport's Marks and Spencer's surprised me, because they are incorrect.