CARDIFF | St David's 2 | U/C

[flange]

Originally Posted by stopthebus

I noticed today the unit opposite Sports Direct, which was previously HMV, has boardings up saying "new store opening soon". Any ideas whats going in there?

Apparently it is HMV reopening in there, could be a pop up store again for them over Christmas though.

Red Hot World Buffet has now opened along with Aunite Annes next ot Pumpkin Patch on Upper Grand Arcade..



Image from http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...type=3&theater

Signor Valentino are opening in the former Sale Pepe unit on Upper Eastside Arcade

Internacionale are opening in an existing empty unit and the former Thoughts Cards unit on Town Wall South.

Hush Puppies are opening at St Davids in November, job vacancies are being advertised online. http://www.stdavidscardiff.com/Generic-Pages/Careers

[craig lindsay]

Hush Puppies are opening their store December 1st.

[flange]

Springfield has closed down at St Davids.

Cortifiel pulls out of UK

29 November, 2011

Land Securities' Brand Empire deal terminated with the closure of eight UK stores

Land Securities, through its subsidiary Brand Empire, has ended its agreement with Grupo Cortefiel, one of Spain’s largest and leading fashion retailers, and has closed the eight stores currently trading in the UK.

The deal with Grupo Cortefiel was agreed in February 2010 and covered three brands; Cortefiel, Springfield and women’secret. The first stores opened in September 2010 and eight stores were opened in total, all in Land Securities’ shopping centres. Land Securities has already had expressions of interest for the store space in the affected locations.

Juan Carlos Escribano, chief executive officer of Grupo Cortefiel, said: “Our brands Cortefiel, Springfield and women’secret are already present in over 60 countries around the world, and opening stores in the UK is one of our obvious next steps. Our Group remains fully committed to expand in this market. This innovative arrangement with Brand Empire was a good opportunity to test the UK market while reducing some of the risks usually encountered when entering a new market. However brands in apparel have their own pace for the different markets and the difficult trading environment in the UK and beyond did not help to sustain the commitment from both sides so we have decided with Land Securities to exit the agreement.”

The Brand Empire stores closing are located at One New Change in London, the White Rose centre in Leeds, The Centre in Livingston and the St David’s centre in Cardiff.

Richard Akers, managing director retail for Land Securities, said: “Brand Empire was born out of the recognition of the difficulties experienced by some retailers in accessing our market and the relatively moribund leasing market in the UK in late 2009, early 2010. Unfortunately we have been unable to establish the brands in the UK in what has been a challenging environment. While today’s course of action is regrettable we always recognised that our attempt to open up the UK market may not succeed and we structured our deals with this realistic outlook in mind. We have begun discussions with alternative occupiers across the vast majority of sites and hope to welcome new stores in the centres soon.”

http://www.shopping-centre.co.uk/new...ut_of_UK_.html

Pulp has closed down at St Davids.

It is with great sadness that we have to announce the closures of 6 Pulp Stores across the UK with immediate effect.

In certain locations we have experienced very hard trading conditions over the past 3 months and with the expectation that this may continue for the foreseeable future, we have taken the difficult decision to close those stores.

They are as follows:

Aberdeen Union Square
Birmingham Bullring Link
Bristol The Horsefair
Cambridge Petty Cury
Cardiff St David’s Centre
Chester Grosvenor Centre.

The remaining 9 stores and our online service www.thisispulp.co.uk continue to trade, as normal.

http://thisispulpblog.blogspot.com/

Kingdom Of Sweets are opening in the former Fenchurch unit at St Davids, planning application for store signage is online here.

Front Up have opened at St Davids in the former Quicksilver unit.

[craig lindsay]

Accessories and fashion retailer Fossil is to launch a new fascia in the UK in Westfield Stratford.

Watch Station was scheduled to open on November 24 in a 1, 075 sq ft unit, featuring a “clean, modern aesthetic with boutique-style display cases that make shopping for a watch an engaging experience”, according to a Fossil spokeswoman.

Watch Station has 12 stores in the US, four in Europe and two in Asia, but the Stratford opening will be a UK first.

It is thought there are plans to roll Watch Station out across the UK with a focus on London and airports.

Jack Krause, senior vice-president of gobal retail at Fossil, said that the retailer took the decision to launch in the UK because it was “so impressed” by the performance of its US stores.

The multi-branded shop will sell 15 to 20 mid- and upmarket brands including Michael Kors, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Adidas, Diesel, AX & Emporio Armani and Burberry. Prices will range from £64 to £1,920.

Property agent Harper Dennis Hobbs, which was last week hired by US fashion brand J Crew to search for UK stores, is acting for Fossil and Watch Station.

Fossil told Retail Week – Retail Jeweller’s sister title – last year that it wanted to double its store portfolio as it expands across the UK and Europe.

Fossil said then that it wanted to open 10 to 15 shops in the next four years, eyeing locations including Leeds, Sheffield, Brighton, Cardiff, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Dublin.

http://www.retail-jeweller.com/produ...031608.article

[flange]

Gilly Hicks open their second store in the UK at St David's on Thursday 8th December. The Cardiff store is the first Video Fronted Gilly Hicks store in the world apparently.



Images from St Davids Facebook page.

[flange]

Gilly Hicks now open at St David's.

Gilly Hicks opens with a splash in Cardiff

8 December 2011

By John Ryan



Abercrombie & Fitch owned lingerie, beach and nightwear brand, Gilly Hicks, has opened at the St David’s Centre in Cardiff.


Internally, the store is similar to the branch that opened in Westfield London last year, but the exterior features a double-height digital video screen carrying film and images of beach and ocean, a first for the brand in the UK.

The logo, “Gilly Hicks Sydney”, is incorporated within the screen and the film this morning was of Bondi beach. The store entrance was patrolled by trim young men and women in beachwear - the norm for the brand.

http://www.drapersonline.com/

[Barafundle]

The Gilly Hicks store front is not bad at all, I was fearing something quite tacky but it works very well.

The centre itself is slowly becoming what they wanted it to be, there was an incredible buzz yesterday, there was the usual Christmas crush, with associated acoustic challenges from the youngsters but overall it was actually quite a nice place to people watch for an hour or so!

[craig lindsay]

Furniture retailer Dwell has agreed a lease on a store at St David’s shopping centre in Cardiff, which will be its first outlet in Wales.

Opening in March next year, the store will become the retailer’s 19th in the UK, having launched in Balham, south London just eight years ago.

Located on the Upper Grand Arcade of the Welsh mall, alongside Monsoon & Hush Puppies and close to John Lewis, the unit taken by Dwell is 5,343 sq ft in size.

Ashley Medway, Head of Property at Dwell, said: “We are very excited about expanding our store portfolio to Wales and particularly St David’s, Cardiff. We have spent a lot of time researching the area and feel this is the ideal location for us within the scheme.

“Over the last few months we have watched the Upper Grand Arcade flourish and as our business continues to grow successfully it’s now the perfect time for us to join the centre.”

St David’s is jointly owned by real estate firms Land Securities and Capital Shopping Centres (CSC) and recently revealed that its footfall figures had continued to grow in its second year despite the pressures currently being put on consumers.

Since the mall opened in September 2009 it has been responsible for bringing several leading retailers into Wales for the very first time, such as Cath Kidston, Hollister and Apple, with Dwell being the latest.

Joanne Skilton, Retail and Leasing Director at CSC, said: “The introduction of dwell complements the existing homewares selection offered by John Lewis and Lakeland.

“It is great news that dwell have chosen St David’s for their first Welsh store. They will be a strong addition to the centre.”

Lunson Mitchenall, Cushman & Wakefield & EJ Hales acted as agents for St David’s in the deal, whilst Dwell represented itself.

http://www.retailgazette.co.uk/artic...e-at-st-davids

[Exethalion]

Barrats has closed in St David's 2, along with Priceless Shoes in St David's (part of the same company which folded recently).
Also Hawkins Bazaar in St David's has gone into administration, the shop still looks stocked but hasn't opened for a few days.

[Karldiff]

There have been quite a few retailers who have come and gone in the 2 years SD2 has been open - Barrats, Henleys, Lambretta, Fenchurch, Quicksilver, Pulp, Lab Sport, Wheels of Sport, Springfield, Thoughts, Martins Chocolatier, Sale Pepe, Faith are the ones I can think of.

Some like Ed Hardy and Bose kitted out the shop but never actually opened. Others like Wally's, Carluccio's., Calender Club, Plain Lazy, HMV etc have opened up pop up shops for a few months and then moved on.

It seems odd then that the actual occupancy rate seems to have stayed the same and if anything have gone up since it opened. The way things are going with retail there could be a number of other casualties in the centre - Game, Clintons, Mothercare, La Senza, Thomas Cook are all facing tough times.

On a brighter note Gilly Hicks opened just before Xmas, Dwell are due to open as well as River Island.

[Cambo_Dai]

Occupancy has been increasing "since opening" because:
- very many other units were empty at opening, but have since secured occupiers. Prominent examples are Clas Ohlson, Gilly Hicks, Nike, G Star, Foot Assylum, Gap, USC, Republic, Luke, Pumpkin Patch etc.
- lots of these units have found new occupiers: the units taken by Lambretta, Fenchurch, Quiksilver, Thoughts, Sale Pepe, Faith, etc have all been taken by new people.

I think St Davids will probably plateau out at something like 95 - 97% occupancy, on average. A changing selection of units (maybe a big one, and a few small ones) will be empty at any given time as retailers exit and enter the scheme.

I'm looking forward to new letting plans.

[Exethalion]

I tend to get the feeling that the Southern half of SD2 is a lot quieter than the Northern half, probably because most people walk in from SD1 and out the West exit to The Hayes or vice versa. It seems that most of the closed stores were in the Southern half.

In any case, it's not as quiet as the Capitol Centre these days, the place is a ghost town and half the shops are pop-ups. Most people seem to go in to use the toilets. Only a matter of time before it closes, surely?

[flange]

River Island doubles up in Cardiff

23 January, 2012

River Island is to open a second major store in Cardiff at St David’s shopping centre, which is jointly owned by Capital Shopping Centres and Land Securities.

The retailer will open an 18,135 sq ft store on the upper level opposite Jane Norman and Nike in May. It will complement the retailer’s existing store on Queen’s Street.

Joanne Skilton, retail and leasing director at CSC on behalf of St David’s Partnership, said: “We are thrilled that River Island is opening in St David’s. They are a strong brand who will further enhance the fashion tenant mix and we have worked with them over several months to deliver their ideal store. The fashion offer is the heart of St David’s and this new store sits on one of the busiest junctions within the centre, so it is sure to be a success with our fashion conscious shoppers.”

As well as River Island, Schuh the fashion footwear brand, is set to open a 5,700 sq ft store in the summer adjacent to Republic.

St David’s and River Island represented themselves while Schuh was advised by Louis Stalder.

http://www.shopping-centre.co.uk/new...n_Cardiff.html

[craig lindsay]

-Dwell is listed as opening 22nd of March
-River Island is still just listed as opening in 2012
-Schuh is still just listed as coming soon

[craig lindsay]

Casual footwear retailer Crocs has opened its first Welsh store. The 1,097 sq ft shop in St David's shopping centre in Cardiff follows the same concept as Croc's store in Nice, France which opened in March.

The store is designed to offer "an engaging and fun retail experience" where customers are invited to explore and interact, as well as shop.


Vince Gunn, Crocs Europe MD said: "The St David’s location offers an exciting opportunity for us to connect our brand with our existing customers, while attracting a new audience.

"It also represents a key part of our long-term strategy plan to build and develop the Crocs brand across Europe."

Crocs is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year and the new retail experience aims to highlight the brand’s expanding footwear line, which has more than 300 different product styles.

Other retailers planning to open new stores in St David’s include A|X Armani Exchange River Island.

http://www.theretailbulletin.com/new...ales_29-05-12/

We knew about Crocs and River Island, but Armani Exchange? That's new..

[Cambo_Dai]

Armani Exchange is new-ish. They have been advertising for jobs on SD's website since late April.

Other retailers that have been mentioned as wanting Hayes frontage stores (Helical Bar, owners of the Arcades and old David Morgan lists them as having a requirement for the street) are:
Barbour
Lacoste
Vivienne Westwood

And St David's has announced two new catering operators:
Crepe Affair (next to Cosy Club and Hugo Boss)
Toby Carvery Sandwich Express (old Boof unit).

Updated letting plans available at:
http://www.capital-shopping-centres....3_May_2012.pdf

[GrahamSoult]

Hi all,

I've a slightly unusual request, which I hope you can help with!

One of the things I do at my retail blog (http://www.soultsretailview.co.uk/) is track down and write about former Woolworths locations, and I'm aware that there used to be one at 63-64 St Davids Way in the St Davids Centre, which was there from 26 July 1990 until (I think) sometime before the St Davids redevelopment got under way in the mid 2000s.

63-64 St Davids Way doesn't seem to exist as an address any more, so I just wondered if anyone could tell me where the St Davids Woolworths was in relation to present-day landmarks/stores, and when exactly it closed?

[Hbob]

Originally Posted by GrahamSoult

Hi all,

I've a slightly unusual request, which I hope you can help with!

One of the things I do at my retail blog (http://www.soultsretailview.co.uk/) is track down and write about former Woolworths locations, and I'm aware that there used to be one at 63-64 St Davids Way in the St Davids Centre, which was there from 26 July 1990 until (I think) sometime before the St Davids redevelopment got under way in the mid 2000s.

63-64 St Davids Way doesn't seem to exist as an address any more, so I just wondered if anyone could tell me where the St Davids Woolworths was in relation to present-day landmarks/stores, and when exactly it closed?

Hi there, you may know this already but the Woolworths that you are talking about was a Woolworths Music & Video rather than a full range store. If you follow the link below, it will take you to a lettings plan - the Woolworths store you're looking for was roughly where units 10 & 12 are.

http://www.capital-shopping-centres....davids_centre/

The main Cardiff Woolworths store was exactly where BHS is now - with an entrance in St David's Centre and Queen St. Sometimes you can just make out the imprints left by the Woolworths lettering at the top of building from the Queen St entrance. The store was one of their giant "red fronts" and closed in 1985/86.

If you're in the area, it's worth seeing the two large former Woolworths stores in Swansea. The Oxford Street store closed in 2009; the High St store (where Argos now is) is still recognisable as a Woolworths building. Indeed, if you pop around the back, you'll still see the Woolworths sign visible above the goods entrance. It was another very large store. A google image search for Swansea High Street Argos should bring up pictures. As a Woolworths it traded on two floors and internally, Argos takes up much less of the floor space than Woolies did.

Hope this helps.

[GrahamSoult]

Originally Posted by Hbob

Hi there, you may know this already but the Woolworths that you are talking about was a Woolworths Music & Video rather than a full range store. If you follow the link below, it will take you to a lettings plan - the Woolworths store you're looking for was roughly where units 10 & 12 are.

http://www.capital-shopping-centres....davids_centre/

The main Cardiff Woolworths store was exactly where BHS is now - with an entrance in St David's Centre and Queen St. Sometimes you can just make out the imprints left by the Woolworths lettering at the top of building from the Queen St entrance. The store was one of their giant "red fronts" and closed in 1985/86.

If you're in the area, it's worth seeing the two large former Woolworths stores in Swansea. The Oxford Street store closed in 2009; the High St store (where Argos now is) is still recognisable as a Woolworths building. Indeed, if you pop around the back, you'll still see the Woolworths sign visible above the goods entrance. It was another very large store. A google image search for Swansea High Street Argos should bring up pictures. As a Woolworths it traded on two floors and internally, Argos takes up much less of the floor space than Woolies did.

Hope this helps.

Perfect, thanks! Someone on Twitter had suggested exactly the same location for the small St David's Woolworths - opposite today's That's Entertainment - which bodes well Here's my shot of that stretch from when I was in Cardiff on Friday:

And you're absolutely right about the Woolworth lettering being visible on the BHS building. I hadn't noticed it when I was there (probably because it was pouring with rain and I didn't hang about), but it's clearly there in the photograph:

Thanks for all your help! Swansea (and the suburban Cardiff ones) will be on the to-do list for next time.

Image source and blog: http://www.soultsretailview.co.uk/20...st-woolworths/