High St Arcade is also getting a bit competitive on the cafe front.

Barkers upmarket Tea Shoppe opened a month ago in that very arcade, and today I went into another new place which opened last week (located between Barkers and Cafe Atlantic). I don't know the name but it's on the top floor above a shop which sells rustique and retro ornaments. The blond woman who runs it was lovely. She's clearly got an eye for quirky interiors and the place deserves to succeed. The venue is very small (sits about 10) and the prices seem on the low side - so she's going to have to work like a demon to make it work. I reckon she needs to up the prices for such a niche to succeed.

I think that place is called Cinnamon Sticks and sells a lot of quirky stuff on the ground floor (a bit like a miniature flea market). I'll have to give it a try.

I went into Continental Coffee the other day which is opposite Cafe Minuet in Castle Arcade. Very nice. They sell a range of speciality coffee's plus panini's, soups etc. It was also surprisingly busy given that Cafe Minuet, Madam Fromage and Barker Coffee are all very well established and thriving in the same arcade.

I think Cardiff is developing a wealth of decent places to have lunch and certainly there is a lot more around than there was even a few years ago. Out of places that I have ate in the last few weeks I would recommend Wally's Kaffeehaus above the deli. German/Austrian fare which is quite reasonably priced. Munchesters next to little O'Neils is also good. They sell wraps which sounds a bit boring but they taste incredible. Not particularly cheap but they are pretty filling. Also Crumbs salad in Morgan Arcade is an old stand by and can't be beaten if you fancy a salad.

You really don't need to go anywhere near the coffee house chains these days unless you want to.

I find it so sad that so many of my friends back in Cardiff are constantly tagging themselves into Starbucks on Facebook though. Overpriced coffee or 'machimochilatteatos' or whatever silly name they come up with next, in an uninspiring environment. I always make sure we go somewhere independent.

I'm glad that there were customers in Continental Cafe because the only person I've ever seen in there has been me, and I've only been in there once!

The arcades and the cafes are great, but I also feel that in some ways they have a negative impact on the city centre, especially the restaurant / bar offering. Basically most of the smaller independent, quirky and character-filled venues in town are locked away after 6pm. You could imagine that if there were not in the arcades, but in a regular street, then some might open later at night and give more variety in the evenings, allowing space for an independent restaurant scene in town and a few less boozy places for a wine or coffee.

There's a new starbucks opening on Newport Road I believe, near the Holland House Hotel.

I noticed Barker (clothing) were having a closing down sale so I asked them about it and they confirmed it's closing for good: https://twitter.com/CitypediaCF/status/438691832944689152

It's a sad day, it seems like trendy coffee shops are taking over the city centre.

No offence, but this is REALLY old news. They've been closing for about a year and shame that it was when it was announced, I wish they'd just hurry up now. Especially if they can get some seating on thd street.

Flavour the cafe on the corner of High St/Castle St appeared to have closed down but has now re-opened following a change of ownership and refit.

Long term lurker but something to contribute today!

Strictly speaking this relates to Cardiff Bay retail rather than City Centre, but the coffee shop theme continues:

I noticed another independent coffee shop today that I haven't previously spotted; in the old Bute Dock Hotel opposite Cymric House. I can't remember the name; I will pop back later for a look and take a picture as it was nicely presented. The marketing office for Empire House still appears to occupy a third of the frontage.

Probably old news, but the florist on Bute Street that opened circa six months ago in the short lived Captain Scott pub (formerly a Chinese) appears to be going strong.

Yes indeed a warm welcome from me (HQ) - I hope you'll become a regular poster on here!

that's Century Falcon on board so Friday's looking good! any other long time lurkers out there we'd love for you to join in also!

RE:The Cafe

I mentioned this on another thread a short while ago.It's called the Bombay Cafe and the sign says est 1953.

They've since slapped Halal signs on the windows, which, as a vegetarian, is kind of putting me off by making it sound less of a coffee shop and more of a butchers! It hasn't opened yet but looks imminent.

Just what we need - another Starbucks!

I'm not one of those people who rants against big companies. I can live with Tesco - but Starbucks? It's just very bad coffee. Still, the tide seems to be receeding. They've pulled out of Australia already and I suspect the UK operation will be in trouble soon enough.

It looks fine, however.

In Australia they know what good coffee is; and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

It's a bad time for retailers with an ampersand in their name: both Ollie & Nic and Mamas & Papas are closing down in St Davids.

Mama's and Papa's have a second store in the city I think - in Leckwith. Ollie and Nic is a bit of a surprise as its seemed reasonably busy.

We might see a fair bit of churn in stores around October this year as that marks 5 years(!) since St David's opened: quite a number of retailers will have break clauses at that point, and they might reassess their presence. It will also give St David's a chance to move retailers around and to boot underperforming retailers out and get others in (if there is demand).

It seems that there is demand for additional A3 space (e.g. Wahaca), and performance seems decent for low-mid market retailers. But I think that with these 2 retailers and LK Bennett pulling out, the centre might be struggling with the higher end retailers. Might see a few others like Folli Follie, Crabtree, Guess and Reiss go or downsize.

Graphics are now up the windows of the new Fish & Chip restaurant on Queen Street advertising it as 'coming soon'

Didn't seem to get a mention on any of the Retail threads, but Sketchers has opened a new store next to Animal in Queens Arcade! The store was opened by Peter Andre on the Weekend!

Peter Andre opening a dry cleaners in Queen St Arcade? Think they both should be aiming higher than that.

Rhodri, is that a joke? Skechers is a casual footware company - basically trainers - which was cool for a while. Its still a bit sad for Peter Andre, but not quite a dry-cleaners. And infact, it seems quite a coup for Queen's Arcade given their recent lettings history.

Oh.

Thanks for that.

I'd rather there was a dry cleaners* in there rather than yet another sodding shoe shop.



Rhodri: *Sketchleys be their name and dry cleaning be their game.

The word on twitter is that Pieminister Cardiff is opening on Monday. Mmmm pie....

Bit sad that this is the kind of "opening" that gets covered in City Centre retail nowaways.

Things have gone quiet again on the retail front in St Davids. A few units were in solicitors hands well over 6 months ago but nothing has happened.

The fit out did look rather nice from a fleeting glimpse that I had whilst cycling past.

Deli A GoGo from Whitchurch are opening a deli/coffee shop on Charles St.

Pie minister looks great btw!

We ate there last week. They haven't ironed out a lot of stuff yet but the pies were good, the drinks too and it was deservedly popular - and incredibly cheap.

Clintons have relocated from the Grand Arcade to their original unit on Queen Street. Superdrug are opening in the St Davids Clintons unit!

Confirmation that Matalan will be opening in the existing Primark store once they relocate to St David's later this year.

A new planning application has gone online for hoardings to be constructed around the unit, with it revealing the hoardings will be covered in Matalan branding.

Good to see the old unit isn't going to waste, and being occupied by an appropriate tenant (for Queen St).

Clintons are heading back into St David's 'hopefully in the next month' when I spoke to the manager in the temporary shop. I'm wondering if they are going where Mamas and Papas was?

Primark opens tomorrow. They've certainly given the building a big refurb.

Anyone know/heard anything about a new location for BHS? I think the initial 'rumour' was that they and Primark were doing a 'premises swap' but this is obviously now untrue.

Looks like Trailfinders is moving from St Mary St to Queen Street (building formerly occupied by Starbucks at the castle end) unless they are planning on having two outlets in Cardiff which is unlikely. A good move for them.

The building they currently occupy has recently been refurbed by Helical Bar who are making a very decent fist of rejuvenating that part of St Mary St and have certainly improved the aesthetic appearance.

In other news Waterloo Tea Gardens look like they will finally be opening in Wyndham Arcade and Matalan have put in an application for signage and minor works to the old Primark unit in Queen Street. Queen St seems to be bouncing back a bit. The one significant unlet building on the corner of Park Place is being fitted out for a Costa and a Greggs. Other than that I can't think of many empty units (leaving aside the Capitol units facing the street).

It's clear that Queen st is now the place to shop at the 'value' end of the market whereas the Hayes is for higher end brands.

Retail news is extremely slow in Cardiff right now! Birmingham have just had a stream of new announcements

I thought Clintons would have been in St Davids 1 around Blue Inc and Krispy Kreme!

What units are vacant in St Davids 2? Who do we think could occupy these units?