St David’s 2: a new patron saint for Wales?
Two weeks ago my wife and I moved to a small village just outside Cardiff, Wales’ capital, after many years of city-dwelling. Out of curiosity and (more pressingly) in need of a new watch battery, I ventured back into the city on Saturday.
Although I’m English, I’ve lived in Cardiff for 14 years, since I was 19. I stuck around after graduating from the uni because of work and relationships (in no particular order). In that time it’s changed a fair bit, although not always for the better.
Cardiff can be a mystifying place at times, particularly when discussing it with people from elsewhere. Most visitors seem to like it, though in my opinion it’s not nearly on a par with places such as Liverpool, Manchester or Bristol; places with variety, a clear spirit of community and a strong creative self-belief.
At the moment Cardiff is riding a wave of tourism partly thanks to BBC Wales making Doctor Who and Torchwood here, which brings in quite a bit of tourism, cash and kudos. The Cardiff Bay developments, which happened around 10 years ago, have also made what was a crumbling industrial wasteland into a family friendly weekend destination, although some still mutter that the soul of the old Tiger Bay has irrevocably disappeared.
Last week there was a flurry of excitement, at least in the press, at the opening of the St David’s 2 shopping arcade. Now, for those of you who have never been to Cardiff, it’s known in some quarters as the City of Arcades, several of which have some decent independent shops selling interesting and unique goods.
In its scope and scale, conversely, St David’s 2 is a dispiriting entity. Firstly, there’s the name. The new construction is essentially a bolt-on to the older St David’s Centre, but they evidently couldn’t think of anything more imaginative to call it. However, there’s a fascinating subtext to the name: it’s as if the old St David has been displaced as patron saint of Wales, in favour of that ancient and noble activity – shopping.
Ah, shopping, saviour of south Wales in the long years since industry buggered off and left it to rot.
A couple of weeks ago, a branch of the John Lewis department store opened its doors near to the new arcade. The first John Lewis in Wales was greeted with something approaching religious fervour by several people I know. I found the enthusiasm over a bloody department store utterly mystifying, especially when all the goods – and more – can be bought online, with many items not even unique to the chain. Ah well, it’s clearly not for me.
St David’s 2 doesn’t improve things much. Here’s a list of retailers, purloined from Wikipedia: Debenhams, New Look, Slater, Beaverbrooks, Fraser Hart, Goldsmith, Parkhouse the Jeweller, Claire’s, Essential, Apple Store, Carphone Warehouse, O2, Vodafone, Guess, Clarks, Clinton Cards, H&M, Disney Store, Crew Clothing, Hugo Boss, Kurt Geiger, Reiss, T. M. Lewin, All Saints, Radley, Links of London, Crabtree & Evelyn, Ollie & Nic, Folli Follie, Urban Outfitters, G-star, Cult, Fat Face, Quiksilver, L’Occitane, Thomas Sabo, Henleys, Hollister, Bestseller including Jack Jones & Vero Moda, LK Bennett, Jane Norman, Thoughts Cards, Paperchase, Suits You, Warehouse, Karen Millen, Oasis, Coast, 7 Camicie, Fenchurch, Lambretta, Mothercare, Lakeland Limited, Pen Shop, Soletrader, Bose, Currys Digital, Faith Shoes, LabSport, SaltRock, Blue Inc, Wheels of Sport, Menkind, Swatch Watches, Sports Direct, Peacocks, Bon Marche, The Fragrance Shop, Principality Building Society, Transform Your Images, Game, Plain Lazy, Shoe Zone, Red5, Clarins, and Officer Club.
Notice anything? Any unique names that you won’t find on high streets up and down the country? Probably not. Any bookshops or musical instrument shops? Not a chance. Any shops unique to Wales? The only one I spotted was a second branch of the excellent Wally’s Deli, but that stood alone amid the clothes and perfume shops.
But to expect something remarkable from a city that can’t even sustain a decent independent record shop – I’ll exclude specialist stores like Catapult, though I maintain that Spillers is massively overrated by people who have never lived in a town with a truly excellent alternative – is perhaps a want too far.
Then there’s the design. Many of the old arcades of Cardiff are resplendent in Victorian charm, with original features still visible above and around the walkways. St David’s 2, meanwhile, obstinately spits in the face of elegance and beauty, and instead settles for ugly beige and shiny tiles. What a missed opportunity for a flagship construction for Wales’ capital city.
But hey, it’s not all bad. On Saturday the mobile phone shops appeared to be doing a brisk trade. Sports Direct had plenty of people milling around, as did H&M, the Fragrance Shop and Paperchase. All of these, it’s worth adding, already had outlets elsewhere in the city.
So, Cardiff. Home to the high street on a grand scale. Congratulations, shoppers, you’re getting everything you deserved, and more.
There is, however, an underbelly of creativity stretching right across Cardiff, with numerous pockets of people making great things which truly can’t be found elsewhere (whether it be music, art, cinema, craft or theatre), but this is less often trumpeted by the media, and remains something of a secret to those outside.
The great music scene, for example, is constantly fighting to be heard above the stag and hen nights which turn the city into a no-go zone after 10pm on weekend nights, leaving Cardiff to be featured on Britain’s Drunkest Town, Binge Drinking Britain or whatever cliched TV programme a lazy producer has managed to get commissioned.
Keep fighting against the tidal wave of corporate uniformity, or else there’s a real danger that the identikit high street will triumph and take away the individuality of the city. Say no to Cafe Rouge or Nandos, and go instead to that little Italian restaurant next door to Spillers. Resist, go elsewhere, and save your money for the independents who really deserve it.
And so endeth the sermon.
November 11th, 2009 at 1.17am
Indeed, a sermon. I like to shop at indies every now and again, but I tire of the ill-informed religious fervous with which some people promote localism as something great: if it were done on a national scale it would be called “protectionism” and this is something most people would rightfully scorn as damaging the interests of consumers to protect inefficient producers.
Cardiff has a significant number of indie clothes shops, but these are struggling to keep their custom. Your reaction is to blame the consumer – but surely the emphasis should be on how stores can redress their failings and get people back. And if they can’t offer the combination of quality, service and importantly, price, that the customer wants.. then they have had their day and the natural selection of the market will sort the wheat from the chaffe.
Would you have preferred St David’s to offer a pastiche experience of a late 19th century shopping arcade? It references the arcade, particularly in the Hayes arcade with the small jewellers stores and its colour scheme and use of stone (not tiles!) is subtle and understated as opposed to overtly loud and brash. The materials used (with the exception of the car park) are also of very high quality if you take the time to examine them. I for one am glad we didn’t get some hideous attempt at recreating an old fashioned “arcade” – the original design for the Capitol, after all, was some late 1980s post-modernist attempt to strongly reference 19th century design.
January 26th, 2010 at 6.49pm
I think there’s some truth in what you say, but this was really a rant at how boring a lot of high street shops are. And why are they so popular? I don’t know; I’m looking for answers myself.
As for the architecture, no, I wouldn’t have wanted a mindless pastiche of the past. I grew up in Bath, England, and have seen what a slavish devotion to one era can do (the problems with getting a bold design approved for the Holborn Museum extension were really sad to see). But I do like boldness and flare, and there seems to be very little of that evident in Cardiff’s new buildings. The library is a step in the right direction, though.