Any News On Whats Happening In St Davids This Year?

Is Forever 21 opening here or not? Surely they have made their mind up now?

The second message in this thread was not posted by me.....

Updated letting plans for St Davids now available:

http://www.capital-shopping-centres.co.uk/files/page/62558/CARDIFF_as_at_11_January_2013.pdf

No exciting new names. A new restaurant on Lower East Side called "Mount Fuji" apparently is confirmed, as is Scrum&Surf where Baci used to be.. any sign of that opening?

In terms of negotiations/solicitors the following:

The "Jeff Bain" unit is in negotiation
The temp HMV is in solicitors hands
The Springfield unit is in negotiation (but has been for months)

Most interesting is that they are now in negotiation for the MSU between Hush Puppies and John Lewis.. wonder who that could be? The "Forever 21" units are still in solicitors hands.

I find it so frustrating that MSU03 is still in solicitors hands after over a year - Any ideas whats happening there? Who could be the possible tenant?

& Its good to see MSU06 has some activity, because its an awfully big unit and I was afraid there would be no interest at all, however I still have no idea who could possibly negotiating? Really, only Forever 21 could fill a unit of that size as far as Cardiff is concerned.

Thank you for posting the updates letting plans RandomComment

I think Fossil are opening next to Mango, there's a planning app knocking about somewhere on the council website.

I missed this!

http://planning.cardiff.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=_CARDIFF_DCAPR_102875

Good spot!

Not been in the City for a little while. Have HMV closed that store? Last I read was that HMV Canada or HILCO were buying them out and continuing trading with some stores.

I'm sorry - the Queen St HMV store is closed? If so thats news to me. I haven't seen an announcement of store closures by the Administrators yet. Please can people be careful about facts they post..

Apparently Hilco who are buying it do plan to close around half of the stores, but they've not said which ones yet.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21276913

So yes, the HMV on Queen St is still open. WHY POST SOMETHING UNTRUE????

Its good to see new people on here, but they don't take care like the more long-standing posters. Along with the silly "whos the troll" game, its just getting tedious...

As a long standing poster on here, I am a little pissed off about the decline in quality of discussion, and the less attention that seems to be paid to basic facts and sensible analysis. So I capitalised because I was, in effect, shouting!

I'm also outside of Cardiff so can't check directly, so I rely on people who do post things to be as accurate as possible. I think its good protocol to post something that you're unsure by saying like "I'm not sure but..." or "I think".. etc.

For apologizing when I was wrong? Would you prefer that I go on the offensive and start ranting?

It's always been a bit petty on here let's be honest. Dai/Cambo/Random I do feel you are correct, we can do without inaccuracies but I think LordCrow obviously trusted his source and we all make mistakes don't we ?

Talking of that HMV store, how is Queen Street doing in general these days, particularly the eastern and western ends of it ? It seemed pretty busy when I was home at Christmas.

The Hayes was just bloody lovely, really made me miss home it has to be said. I'm really pleased how that street had turned out, it was always my favourite part of the city centre and is just no

On St. David's related news, Fossil are taking the temporary HMV unit on the ground floor of the Grand Arcade.

There's also a planning app for signage for Trespass in St. David's Way.

Walked through earlier and David and Goliath has closed down.

How long has BHS been closed down? There's now no BHS in Cardiff other than the household goods and furniture place by Asda in the Bay.

Last time I went to the one in Cardiff Bay Retail Park it looked a little 'run down'. I thought perhaps they were moving everything there but it is so small!? Didn't some on here say they were doing a premises 'swap' with Primark?

I was really shocked when I passed David & Goliath today & noticed it had closed down! I had always known it to be a popular store!

any idea why the David & Goliath store closed? have all their stores closed or is it just cardiff

David and Goliath closed last week, which to be honest isn't much of surprise really! Every time I'm on break in work it's always dead!

Republic has gone into administration - I really hope this doesn't lead to store closures because their St Davids store is a substantial size and it would be sad to see it exit St Davids just as the Grand Arcade begins to look full...

Four shops in a row in the St Davids Way part of the centre have now been plaster boarded up. Either they are due to be fitted out or the centre management are planning on sticking up some posters rather than have empty shop fronts (not unlike the advertising screen on the former Burtons unit in another part of the centre).

Anyone know?

It depends on whether it's a protruding hoarding or if it's tight to the shop front. If it's the latter it's probably for a screen print with some blurb about the centre on it.

The latter. There was no opening for a doorway so presumably this is a tidying up exercise in an effort to make that part of the centre look a little less bereft.

Anyone want to guess how long it'll take to get new tenants, and which tenants they'll be?

its hard to figure out what stores would want St Davids Way units? could only imagine fashion stores such as Burton in this part of the centre and independent / low key/ discount stores!

Looks like ecosway has bit the dust as well. Also the former Baci unit - which was earmarked for an outfit called Scrum and Surf - has been plasterboarded up in a similar fashion to other units suggesting that there are no imminent plans to open.

Did anyone know what eCosway sold? All a bit odd.

I can't find the lettings PDF on the Intu (CSC's new name) website, anyone (i.e. RandomComment) know where it's gone?

I think it was cosmetic stuff but can't really be sure. A very odd shop. Am I right in thinking it's connected to Emperor Tan of Cardiff Redbirds fame?

I say it's closed based on the shutters being down during the middle of the day. It could be the case that the staff couldn't be bothered.....

The Intu website shows the new Primark as opening in Summer 2014. It must be heck of a refurbishment if the store will be closed for 16-18 months!

BHS was a state mind! At the end of the day, if they're making the move let them do a good job and take their time on the store

I noticed on the Intu website that St Davids has the lowest occupancy rate out of all the Intu centres at 92% full

That's surprisingly low for what is basically the premier shopping destination in Cardiff.

I heard that St. David's has a selection process for potential applicants. They old want stores that are of their sort. Can anyone clarify?

Another major factor would probably be cost. How much would it cost to rent a store in the Centre per week/year? I should imagine that they bigger ones go for a couple of hundred-thousand per year.

The Target Letting Plan is found towards the end of the PDF

http://www.landsecurities.com/documentlibrary/St_Davids_Cardiff_tour_Dec_09.pdf

I wonder if the sudden interest in the large MSU next to John Lewis is BHS? There aren't many large units available in town and I imagine SD are desperate to let it so would offer a good deal.

Victoria's Secret have now signed for their sixth UK store in Sheffield's Meadowhall Centre.

The 6 stores are in Manchester Trafford, Trinity Leeds, Westfield Stratford, London Stanstead Airport, Meadowhall and Bond Street.

With a spree of store openings at the moment, could we see a Victoria's Secret in Cardiff in the near future?

I wouldn't be surprised!

I do hope so. It's such an ordeal to purchase a decent pair of fishnets in Cardiff at the moment.