CardiffWalesMap

Quick Update

- Jacamo | Simply Be have opened their 5,343 Sq Ft pop up store on the Upper Grand Arcade

- Calvin Klein Underwear have opened their brand owned 714 Sq Ft store on the Lower Grande Arcade

- Kid's Around have opened their sixth UK store on the Lower Grand Arcade in a 2,135 Sq Ft unit

- Oliver Bonas have now opened their first Welsh store on the Hayes in the unit previously occupied by Kurt Geiger (2,324 St Ft)

- Ushi's have relocated to LG40 which is the unit which previously housed Mango. This unit recently had planning permission granted for Godiva to open. It'll be interesting to see what is happening with this now

- Soho Coffee Co. have closed their coffee shop on Town Wall South

Hoardings have been erected in front of the following units:

- Byron (MSU06B + LG28/29)
- Lovisa (CW18)
- Virgin Holiday's (CW23)
- Former SoHo Coffee (TW38/40)

In other news, the lease for unit 2B (Currently occupied by Sblended) has been put back on the market.

There still seems to be a lack of new retailers to fill the large empty units. The former Mothercare, USC, DV8, Gilly Hicks and Clas Ohlson are all still empty I think. Gilly Hicks has been a few years now.

Any news on the horizon about these?

Simon_SW17 wrote:There still seems to be a lack of new retailers to fill the large empty units. The former Mothercare, USC, DV8, Gilly Hicks and Clas Ohlson are all still empty I think. Gilly Hicks has been a few years now.

Any news on the horizon about these?

No news on any of these fronts! Not even rumours... Nevertheless, I've given some thought into potential retailers for some of our larger vacant units:

Mothercare > Uniqlo (12,228 Sq Ft)
Clas Ohlson > Missguided (17,700 Sq Ft)
Guess > COS (6,820 Sq Ft)
USC > Zara Home (9,621 Sq Ft)
DV8 > Pull & Bear | Stradivarius (12,253 Sq Ft)
Gilly Hicks > Urban Revivo (? Sq Ft)

[Urban Revivo is China's leading fast fashion brand, which is branching into the UK as of 2018. Their first planned opening is Westfield White City. With the considerable Chinese student population in Cardiff, I could certainly envisage this chain opening within the city providing a successful launch in London]

Back to real life... Footasylum Women's are opening a pop up shop in the unit which was previously occupied by SoHo Coffee!

There'a a planning app for Kurt Geiger to reopen in the un let LG31 in the Grand Arcade. I thought as they'd surrendered their lease to Oliver Bonas that they weren't doing very well in Cardiff. Clearly not and they're just going for a cheaper unit.

Good to see that some premium stores can cut it and it's not all Primarni.

November Centre Update

- Skinny Dip are opening in the unit previously occupied by Folli Follie (I imagine this'll be a Christmas pop up)

- Hoardings are up around Kurt Geiger

- Pravins have purchased the space once home to the cash machines and will therefore be extending their store front

- Lovisa hoardings are down and the store front most definitely stands out on Cathedral Walk... Very nice!

It would seem a significant letting has been secured! Inditex brand 'Stradivarius' are currently recruiting for a brand new store in Cardiff! Although no location has been announced, I think we can safely say this'll be located on the Upper Grand Arcade in St. David's.

I had been hoping for an Inditex dual-branded store (Pull & Bear|Stradivarius) to occupy the DV8 unit, nevertheless this is a strong letting and certainly a coup for the centre. As it stands, Stradivarius occupy 4 UK locations (Belfast, Stratford City, London Oxford Street and Manchester Trafford). Stradivarius operate over 900 stores across 60 countries and their Cardiff branch will be the brands 5th UK opening.

Stradivarius stores vary in size. Their Oxford Street branch measures up at 16,145 Sq Ft whereas their Stratford City and Manchester stores are 4,250 Sq Ft & 5,000 Sq Ft respectively. It will be interesting to see which unit they take in St David's.

Having been doing my christmas shopping I have to say I was struggling to find anywhere to buy quality wine. I don't usually drink but was looking for some relatively fancy plonk - but where? There's one specialist shop in Castle Arcade - but it's all in the £10 range. I don't know if the price of wine ha come falling down but I would have expected to find more in the £20-25 range.

You’re right, there is a dearth of wine sellers in town. Smaller shops lose a lot to pilfering.

Most supermarkets have very decent wine. Go online and look at the latest recommendations from wine writers and websites. Also search for best (Xmas) deals and then search for those recommended wines to see how they’re rated by the online wine buff community. Then go to the relevant supermarket!

I went to Costco yesterday and bought a lot of wine as gifts. They have top brands, many of them at very good prices.

Or you could go to Majestic.

Frank wrote:Having been doing my christmas shopping I have to say I was struggling to find anywhere to buy quality wine. I don't usually drink but was looking for some relatively fancy plonk - but where? There's one specialist shop in Castle Arcade - but it's all in the £10 range. I don't know if the price of wine ha come falling down but I would have expected to find more in the £20-25 range.

With those middle-class expectations I would direct you to those middle-class mainstays M&S and Waitrose.

Waitrose have some good offers in the run-up to Christmas and you can pick up your wine in-store (Pontprennau). It's what we do.