City Centre Retail

In a continuation from the old forum...

High Street, Castle and Duke Street arcades have been bought for £25m. New owners are planning a "major face lift", be interesting to see their plans...they same in fairly good condition to me already!

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/three-cardiffs-iconic-victorian-arcades-7426951

I saw that. I don't think they need much work but I think Duke Street arcade needs an overhaul and parts of Castle Arcade are in need of repair. I hope High Street arcade has new flooring. All the units in there have that lovely art deco glazing but the flooring looks really tacky. Also I would imagine they will try to better utilise the upper floors of Duke and High Street arcade.

In other news Munchesters has closed. A shame as the food was really nice there and I was just about to get enough points on my loyalty card for a free meal. Next door the pasty shop continues to have them queuing out of the door which gives an indication of the culinary inclinations of the average Cardiffian.

Trailfinders are moving from St Mary St to a unit at the castle end of Queen Street.

In a continuation from the old forum...

High Street, Castle and Duke Street arcades have been bought for £25m. New owners are planning a "major face lift", be interesting to see their plans...they same in fairly good condition to me already!

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/three-cardiffs-iconic-victorian-arcades-7426951

Really not sure what to think about this. Just hope they do better than they have with stadium plaza.

Yes, tend to agree. I always thought Curzon were pretty switched on with marketing etc

I love the Arcades. I prefer to spend time in them rather than SD1 or 2. Great independent shops, cafes, etc., It is where I always head when visiting Cardiff. Hope these 'new owners' don't change them too much!

Something called the Smokehaus is due to open in the Cineworld unit formerly occupied by a sports bar, Hooters and other short lived incarnations.

I'm assuming from the name that it will a bbq place which seems to be quite trendy these days - I think the Landsdowne in Canton and somewhere in Pontcanna have a similar sort of offering.

Something called the Smokehaus is due to open in the Cineworld unit formerly occupied by a sports bar, Hooters and other short lived incarnations.

I'm assuming from the name that it will a bbq place which seems to be quite trendy these days - I think the Landsdowne in Canton and somewhere in Pontcanna have a similar sort of offering.

Hopefully it will be better than the place in Pontcanna!

think there's already one in Swansea. That part of St Davids/town is pretty rank at present. Quite badly planned. Doesn't help that Park Inn looms over but I'm sure it could have been done better...

Just had a look at the menu from the Swansea branch. My kind of place. I always source these type of restaurants when i am out on the lash in London. Am always jealous of what London can offer compared to Cardiff BBQ wise.

Had a look at shop property today. There are a few units "under offer" (mostly smaller ones in arcades) - but you don't get to see who they are under offer to.

But you do get to see who's looking to close down or move. And the following are planning to close:
- Dorothy Perkins, 33 Queen St - although their lease only runs as far as next year anyway
- Bank/Size, 34 Queen St - although maybe they have already closed?
- Optical Express, 46 - 48 Queen Street
- Hobbs, Unit 19 Capitol Centre - with lease to expire in 2018.
- Calvin Klein, St Davids - already closed, but their lease was until 2020, and things must have been BAD to close up whilst still paying rent! (i.e. they couldn't even cover staff and lighting costs, which for such a small shop must have been pretty low!)
- Hush Puppies, St Davids, will trade until they can assign their lease - which goes through until 2021 with a break clause in 2017.
- Jaeger, Capitol Centre, which will trade until they can assign their lease - which goes until 2016.
- Brittania Building Society, 39 Queen Street
- Lush, 97 Queen Street
- Austin Reed, Capitol Centre - this has been on the market for about 3 years with no takers! And they will trade until they can find someone or their lease ends (in 2018).

It's a shame to see the Capitol continuing to be hit hard by its fashion retailers leaving (or hoping to). Can the centre survive without these?

Its also worrying to see quite a lot of weakness on the middle patch of Queen St - Bank and Dorothy Perkins in particular, given the pull of Matalan and Primark, this should be prime pitch.

And St Davids seems to be struggling to retain more niche retailers - Calvin Klein and Slush Puppies. These are the kind of places that seem to do well in other mid-ranking cities. Perhaps Cardiffians are just lazier and prefer the larger one-stop shops?

On brighter news, first look at the Admiral Building's commercial units - there are 3 and they seem reasonably priced, although they are pretty small (one is just 323 square feet!):

http://www.shopproperty.co.uk/DisplaySh ... 197910SNUG