St. Davids Shopping Centre

I can totally see this being the case. The slow creep of eateries beyond East Side is slightly unnerving and doesn't really make sense to me. I've said before that I was against the old Armani unit transforming to a restaurant. That said, can it really have that much of an effect on the existing retailers? If they aren't getting customers then maybe they should start selling items that people want, instead of relying on high-profile brands to pull in footfall and hope that somebody walks past and sees something in the window.

It looks like Byron Burger will be going in the old Kamigata unit in SD2. There is an app for change of use to A3.

Surely we are close to reaching peak burger by now?

peak burger

Peak Burger Theory:
The maximum amount of money than can be extracted from consumers for effectively the same McDonald's product is known as Peak Burger theory, it was coined by the famous UK economist Prof. R. Comment


We all know that Prof. R. Comment's Peak Burger Theory has been now disproved due to the Black Swan event known as Shale Burger!
This is where retailers tell gullible consumers that every new Burger doesn't cost as much as they think as it's now "on Shale"

Praying this gets declined... No more A3 in the Grand Arcade is all I have to say on this matter!

The unit will comprise the old Inspired Cookware/Kamigata plus just over half of the empty unit upstairs that has never been filled. It's being split to create another smaller unit next door.

I'd rather see it occupied than worry about having A3 units, it fits well I think as it has Tredegar Street presence and is on the periphery of the centre.

The fact that it's Byron is another discussion after they herded some of their staff into an immigration trap a few months back claiming it was a training course...

As much as I would have preferred LG28/29 & MSU06B to have remain as retail units, this planning application has given me the opportunity to explore the units in greater depth and eventually learn the square footages of MSU06!

Byron Burger will be made up of LG28/29 which is 2,518 Sq Ft of space and MSU06B which will be subdivided to create a 2,855 Sq Ft unit which Byron will also occupy and unit UG28 which will be 1,584 Sq Ft.

Byron have decided against using their mezzanine and will therefore occupy a 5,373 Sq Ft unit across two floors.

UG28 will be marketed as A1 retail.

From delving into this planning application I learnt that the original unit (MSU06) was 9,218 Sq Ft worth of ground floor space [without mezzanine capacity]. When Wahacca first subdivided this unit, it left unit MSU06B with just 4,706 Sq Ft worth of ground floor space. (This is significantly smaller than what I imagined, which is why I'm surprised St. David's couldn't secure an A1 tenant for this unit.)

I believe UG28 may be to small to attract a tenant but I could be wrong! It would be interesting to know wether UG28 and UG29 could be amalgamated to form a more appealing sized unit (3,356 Sq Ft Ground Floor excluding Mezz).

Online women's fast fashion retailer Missguided unveiled their first ever standalone store today at Westfield Stratford City and now (more than ever) I believe this store should be at St. Davids.

Although not useful for many of us on here, this store would be perfect for the main draw of visitors to the centre and it would definitely be an attraction store due to its current rarity and brand popularity. I've attached a picture of their 16,100 Sq Ft Westfield store, which I must say certainly looks the part (even if a bit too pink).

The only issue would be finding the right space for it in the centre! The only possible location I can think of is MSU05 (Gilly Hicks). Gilly didn't maximise the space this unit actually has to offer... MSU05 in-fact has the capacity for an operational mezzanine in addition to the ground floor space, which does go back very far. I'm unsure of the actual size of this unit but I'm sure it wouldn't be much less than 13,000/14,000 Sq Ft. Any body have any idea? The only other unit available, which has the scope for a store of this size would be MSU02. Clas Ohlson is 17,700 Sq Ft but I can't imagine this being the most desirable location for a fashion brand.

I think Missguided is a safe bet for the future! High street, low price point, mass attraction and tasteful decor/frontage.

Quick Centre Update

1. Crew Clothing put the remainder of their lease up for sale in November. Their lease expires in June 2019 however they wish to exit early. They're expected to continue trading from their unit on The Hayes until the new year. (For anyone interested, the unit measures at 2,113 Sq Ft and the rent per annum is £167,500 excluding service charges.)

2. Jones Bootmaker has now closed on Cathedral Walk leaving just 13 out of 19 units permanently occupied in this arcade.

Not wholly surprised by Crew, I like their stuff but they seem to have gone off the boil at a bit. Are they leaving Cardiff completely or looking to relocate into one of the Arcades that may suit them a bit better.