Tue Feb 03, 2015 6:56 pm
The location doesn't seem ideal - especially if they are going for the student, 'party' and and stag/hen market. Would have thought something like Stadium Plaza would work (it would be a nice synergy with bowling and laserquest too). But I can see the attraction to St Davids of having them. First, they utilise space on the 2nd floor (with access from the 1st) that would otherwise probably go unused (given the paucity of demand for two storey units upstairs). I bet the deal on the rent is pretty good. And second, it will provide an attraction to draw families, and increase dwell time. Shopping centres now are all about leisure opportunities - make it a destination, and hope they do some shopping at the same time. Can imagine families coming down - Dad plays mini golf with the kids, while Mum goes shopping; and then they have food in TGI Fridays. Whether it will actually be profitable for the operators though is less clear. They'll need a pretty high turnover to pay for the staff and the upfront capital costs, I'd imagine. I'm sure they are hoping for a fair bit of that to come from the bar... but I'm a bit dubious of that (I imagine it being quite naff!).