CardiffWalesMap

jonnywill25 wrote:“Zara has signed for a 38,000 sq ft store at St David’s, Cardiff“

https://landsec.com/media/press-release ... -portfolio

A store of that size must mean it is closing its Queen St store (although that eemed pretty likely anyway, even if it had been a smaller store), which will probably be pretty hard to relet to a high quality retailer.

River Island has gotta be a risk too, given its St Davids store (although personally, I prefer the Queen St one for design/layout/feel).

If both go, that would really knock a hole in the middle of Queen Street.

Jonny, you seem quite clued up on fashion. Is there anyone you could see coming to Cardiff that needs big fashion units?

I think a store like uniqlo or pull and bear would be popular in Cardiff with the student population and the success of bershka and stradivarius in the St David's Centre.

RandomComment wrote:

jonnywill25 wrote:“Zara has signed for a 38,000 sq ft store at St David’s, Cardiff“

https://landsec.com/media/press-release ... -portfolio

A store of that size must mean it is closing its Queen St store (although that eemed pretty likely anyway, even if it had been a smaller store), which will probably be pretty hard to relet to a high quality retailer.

River Island has gotta be a risk too, given its St Davids store (although personally, I prefer the Queen St one for design/layout/feel).

If both go, that would really knock a hole in the middle of Queen Street.

Jonny, you seem quite clued up on fashion. Is there anyone you could see coming to Cardiff that needs big fashion units?

The whole row had been marketed for some time now, I assume River Island are closing on Queen St as are Zara. Top Shop are reducing their estate at the moment so they must be quitting at the end of their lease.

The Top Shop unit is much bigger than the others so could be the biggest challenge to re-let.

https://search.savills.com/property-detail/gb30270000104519

Simon_SW17 wrote:
The whole row had been marketed for some time now, I assume River Island are closing on Queen St as are Zara. Top Shop are reducing their estate at the moment so they must be quitting at the end of their lease.

The Top Shop unit is much bigger than the others so could be the biggest challenge to re-let.

https://search.savills.com/property-detail/gb30270000104519

Gosh. When those go, that will really knock the stuffing out of Queen Street. It will mean Next and, what, Matalan, are the only two main clothing stores you need access from the street? (Primark and M&S can both be accessed via St Davids).

I can't imagine Top Shop/Man are quitting the city. Maybe they will downsize into one of the other units or also make the move to St Davids as well?

Anyway, its a shame. I've come to not really like St Davids as a shopping experience. I find the old centre quite low and claustrophobic - and really busy whenever I go in, which adds to that feeling. And the new part, I find sort of bland and sterile. Queen Street there is usually more to look at, and as I say, the design of the 3 stores closing (Top Shop and River Island in particular) is just more interesting and open than the St Davids ones. Although that and greater energy efficiency probably means the St Davids units are more cost effective.

BB's Coffee + Muffins appear to be exiting the centre soon! They have their lease up for sale... https://www.ejhales.co.uk/documents/car ... s-8183.pdf

jonnywill25 wrote:BB's Coffee + Muffins appear to be exiting the centre soon! They have their lease up for sale... https://www.ejhales.co.uk/documents/car ... s-8183.pdf

I can't say I'm surprised, the rent is £6,667 a month, that's a lot of sales to make to pay that much and have anything left for profit, for what's a really tiny unit. Shopping centre rents are so overpriced, crazy.

- US cosmetics brand Morphe will open their 7th UK standalone store in St David's Cardiff. The store will be located on the Upper Grand Arcade in unit UG37. This unit was previously occupied by Guess and measures 6,820 Sq Ft. A planning application for signage was submitted yesterday.

- Jo Malone are currently closed for refurbishment. They're due to reopen in the Spring.

- Kin + Ilk are relocating to LG53. This unit was previously occupied by Crepe Affair and is located besides Cosy Club on Hill Street.

- LG62, LG63 and LG64 are recently vacant following the closures of Crabtree & Evelyn, Links of London and Radley. Units on The Hayes were previously in high demand. This is the first time we've seen a stretch of empty units on The Hayes since the centre opened... It will be interesting to see if these remain vacant for long?

- Vivienne Westwood have been targeted once again but vandalism to their glass frontage. The damage has been boarded up and does not look aesthetically pleasing. VW failed to replace the previous smashed frontage, which presents the question 'will they leave the damage boarded up until the lease eventually expires?'

Surely you think rent prices would be dropping across the city as high streets become less popular

Gap in St David’s is closing: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/gap-st-davids-cardiff-closing-17722607

There is also a comment outside of the article that Monsoon is closing, that would create a few (more!) big spaces at the end of the centre.

jonnywill25 wrote:- US cosmetics brand Morphe will open their 7th UK standalone store in St David's Cardiff. The store will be located on the Upper Grand Arcade in unit UG37. This unit was previously occupied by Guess and measures 6,820 Sq Ft. A planning application for signage was submitted yesterday.

- Jo Malone are currently closed for refurbishment. They're due to reopen in the Spring.

- Kin + Ilk are relocating to LG53. This unit was previously occupied by Crepe Affair and is located besides Cosy Club on Hill Street.

- LG62, LG63 and LG64 are recently vacant following the closures of Crabtree & Evelyn, Links of London and Radley. Units on The Hayes were previously in high demand. This is the first time we've seen a stretch of empty units on The Hayes since the centre opened... It will be interesting to see if these remain vacant for long?

- Vivienne Westwood have been targeted once again but vandalism to their glass frontage. The damage has been boarded up and does not look aesthetically pleasing. VW failed to replace the previous smashed frontage, which presents the question 'will they leave the damage boarded up until the lease eventually expires?'

Vivienne Westwood has only just installed expensive internal shutters across its frontage so no plans to close. The Cardiff store actually performs well which is good news. The reason why windows still boarded up are due to issues over insurance pay out I understand given how many times they have now been targeted by scumbags. Hence the roller shutters