St. Davids Shopping Centre

The reason MSU06 and MSU05 have remained vacant for so long is because Land Securities and Intu are very picky in regards to their tenant mixture. They know who they want in the centre... They would rather keep a higher calibre of tenants than have a supermarket in the Grand Arcade. They won't let it for the sake of additional income. I think Clas Ohlson will remain vacant for some time until the right fit is found...

MSU02

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If you look at the configuration of MSU02 very closely, you can see that it's actually made up of two units. I think MSU02 could quite possibly be spit back into it's original format. This would make two awfully narrow units (the left hand unit mirroring Hamleys exactly) but I think the square footages would be more appealing to a wider range of potential retailers.

If the Clas Ohlson unit remains un-let by 2018, Zara could be a potential occupier. Zara/Inditex have a strong relationship with Intu and Zara tend to prefer shopping centre locations over high street locations. MSU02 is 17,700 sq ft in size and according to the director of Southgate Shopping Centre, "Zara generally seek 17,000 sq ft stores". If offered a lucrative deal, I can't imagine why Zara wouldn't relocate to MSU02.

Their lease on Queen Street expires in August 2019.

Does Clas Ohlson have a large basement that could be converted into retail space like Sports Direct did?

I know that Sports Direct have burrowed under a few basements to the right of their shop but I'm not sure how far that stretches.

I think we can rule out any supermarkets, their profit margins wouldn't stretch to St. David's rents.

Similarly with any stores with Pound or 99p in their names.

I'm struggling to think of a big retailer who'd take it.

Can't be the case, since there's already a Pound World store in St. David's, just opposite CEX.

Yes there is but I imagine the rents are a fair bit lower along that arm of Cathedral Walk than in the Grand Arcade. That bit was almost empty a couple of years back so they were probably happy to fill the space for less.

There's also a Tesco Express in the new part of St. David's but it's an external off pitch unit which will be a lot cheaper as well.

I suppose though it would come down to what SD were prepared to offer to fill the unit, but as previously mentioned they're very particular about the type of store that goes into the Grand Arcade. I'm not sure if they'd see any difference between the supermarket operators in terms of who they rent to either, it's about the mix of the right type of retailer to attract shoppers and other similar operators.

Argos has small margins as well, they'll be paying a lot less at Queen's Arcade than they would in the Grand Arcade.

You say that, but don't forget that Argos have been at Queens Arcade since pre-recession, pre-SD2 days when the rent on a unit in Queens was probably a lot higher than it is now. I'm not saying it would be the same as a prime spot in St Davids but it may be higher than you'd think.

40% of Argos' leases expire within the next four years according to reports around the time of Sainsbury's takeover. I wouldn't be surprised if their Cardiff unit is up very soon.

Does Clas Ohlson have a large basement that could be converted into retail space like Sports Direct did?

Yes, Clas Ohlson does have a basement which could be converted into retail space, not sure how large it is mind. The basement of MSU02 currently houses the stockroom for Clas Ohlson. There is certainly scope to create an even larger retail unit if needs me. I should imagine a retailer such as Zara would prefer the additional space.

In regards to the basement of Sports Direct, an educated guess would suggest they have pinched some basement space from MSU01 (Hamleys) but not as far as Clas Ohlson.

Looks like Seasalt are opening in the unit previously occupied by Leia. A cursory glance at their website suggests that it's a shop specialising in flogging overpriced crap to yummy mummies.

Looks like Seasalt are opening in the unit previously occupied by Leia. A cursory glance at their website suggests that it's a shop specialising in flogging overpriced crap to yummy mummies.

Where did you hear about this Karl? It looks like a Fat Face type of store... Wouldn't mind betting that this won't last (especially in that unit)