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St. Davids Shopping Centre

if it's about Cardiff.. Sport, Entertainment, Transportation, Business, Development Projects, Leisure, Eating, Drinking, Nightlife, Shopping, Train Spotting! etc.. then we want it here!
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Zach

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Re: St. Davids Shopping Centre

PostWed Jan 11, 2017 4:58 pm

Could this be part of the problem?
The 'Valleys' are not doing so badly anymore.

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Ben In London

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Re: St. Davids Shopping Centre

PostThu Jan 12, 2017 11:37 am

As far as empty units go you seem the same in almost every city/town centre around the country.
The part of London I live in has a shopping centre that is the biggest and most important for miles around but there are still plenty of empty units among the Apple stores, Timberlands and Jo Malones it houses.
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Cen

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Re: St. Davids Shopping Centre

PostThu Jan 12, 2017 2:04 pm

Ben In London wrote:As far as empty units go you seem the same in almost every city/town centre around the country.
The part of London I live in has a shopping centre that is the biggest and most important for miles around but there are still plenty of empty units among the Apple stores, Timberlands and Jo Malones it houses.

I tend to agree with this. I don't find Cardiff particularly bad compared to other cities. In fact it's got quite a few stores that most UK cities don't have. A lot of store closures have also been part of UK-wide brand cutbacks, where the Cardiff branch was not the only victim.
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Cen

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Re: St. Davids Shopping Centre

PostThu Jan 12, 2017 2:19 pm

My opinion is that the fall in retail shopping is UK-wide and can be almost completely attributed to the rise of internet shopping. There's no evidence that the footfall has dropped significantly in Cardiff, where people are spending a lot of money in restaurants, bars, cinemas, etc. Shops aren't particularly empty either, but I know that a lot people will go to shops and even try on clothes and trial gadgets, to then say "I'll just buy this cheaper online".

I think we need to careful where this internet and A.I. path takes us, as soon we won't have any jobs left to spend money anyway!
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Amoore

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Re: St. Davids Shopping Centre

PostThu Jan 12, 2017 3:18 pm

The competition of the Internet is sometimes overrated.

In terms of more linear competition, I think the diversification of supermarkets has a huge impact too, in addition to the increase of out of town shopping centres.
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RandomComment

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Re: St. Davids Shopping Centre

PostThu Jan 12, 2017 4:13 pm

I'm sorry but I just do think Cardiff has a narrower range of stores, and especially fashion stores, than other cities we might consider to be on a par in terms of potential scale of market: Leeds, Liverpool, Belfast, Bristol (adjusting for the out-of-town competition, and nearby-town competition). What Cardiff has are big and successful Debenhams, M&S, Primark, H&M, River Island, Top Shop, TK Maxx, etc. I think they hoover up a bigger share of the trade than comparable cities meaning less to go around to other retailers - whether high or mid market. I think this reflects the typical Welsh shopper being somewhat conservative about where they shop. The way around this is if you appeal to teens/young adults with a "must have" mass-market brand - so Hollister, Superdry, Jack Wills, probably Victoria's Secret, all being at least temporarily very popular.

I think this has been a long-standing phenomenon though. I think the growth of places like Cyfarthfa has probably worsened that trend by keeping even more spend in such mass market stores and out of Cardiff centre altogether.
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Cen

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Re: St. Davids Shopping Centre

PostThu Jan 12, 2017 7:28 pm

Coincidentally, there was a report on BBC news today that backs up my views. Apparently online sales counted for 40% of John Lewis's sales this Christmas. These are figures for a retailer that is primarily "offline". We can't ignore this shift to online shopping, and it's having an impact across the UK. I do however agree that we could do with a few more upmarket shops, but then if Cardiffians don't shop upmarket, is it really a big shame if they don't set up here anyway?
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Amoore

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Re: St. Davids Shopping Centre

PostThu Jan 12, 2017 7:42 pm

Which upmarket brands would you say are missing from Cardiff?

Jantra

Re: St. Davids Shopping Centre

PostThu Jan 12, 2017 7:54 pm

Amoore wrote:Which upmarket brands would you say are missing from Cardiff?

Aquascutum, Thomas Pink, crombie, Oliver sweeney
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Amoore

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Re: St. Davids Shopping Centre

PostFri Jan 13, 2017 2:19 am

To be fair, there aren't many of those stores outside London so it's not as if there's one in every major shopping centre and Cardiff's been left out. (Thomas Pink has a concession in John Lewis by the way)
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