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Cwlcymro wrote:RandomComment wrote:Maybe they hadn't actually signed a lease with with St Davids and there is more than one occupier interested in the unit, and St Davids said, "hold on a minute"? (It is probably one of the best units for A3 use). Thats the positive version.
The less positive version is that they received news that made them want to pull out. It could be about their own financial position or the broader macroeconomy. Or perhaps its about performance of the restaurant sector in St Davids and Cardiff more generally?
Overall, St Davids has underwhelmed in terms of retail sales. John Lewis significantly underperforms relative to its size, for instance. The centre seems to struggle to retain higher end or more specialised brands. A number of restaurants have struggled if they weren't big names (what do people love about TGI Fridays?!?) yet were still a bit pricier than usual.
The article here seems to describe it as a "recent aquisition" which sounds like buying the lease from Jaimie's Italian. Not totally clear though
https://www.thecaterer.com/articles/556066/richard-caring-plans-ivy-asia-for-st-pauls-after-acquiring-three-former-jamie-oliver-sites
Whilst most of your "less positive" makes sense, it would be quite extraordinary for a comapny to take over a lease, apply for licence and then literally within a few hours decide "no, it's not worth it" and back out.
Buying a lease in St. David's would not be cheap, even with a rent free period buying the goodwill of a site like that would be in 6 figures, I doubt they've paid that and scrapped plans. Maybe a re-think of opening hours or the brand chosen?
I did wonder if they'd try a pared down version of The Ivy there instead. A bit small but some parts of their plans for David Morgan were refused by the council.