In the first instalment of this year’s retail road trip, Retail Week heads to Wales and the Southwest and discovers a diverse yet fertile retail landscape.

On the road west

In an area the size of Wales and Southwest England combined, there are always going to be variations.

At 9,200 square miles, the Southwest is the largest of England’s nine official regions, and Wales is not far behind this with 8,023 square miles.

Both have diverse cultures, from the seaside and artists’ favourite that is Cornwall to the castles of North Wales. Yet they are frequently lumped together, and when it comes to retail they do have much in common.

Both have large cities, Cardiff and Bristol, which dominate massive hinterlands in terms of population and commercial activity.

The two metropolises are relatively close to each other, meaning that they have always been rivals, with major representations of almost all the major high-street retailers in both.

Bustling big cities

St davids 3

St davids 3

St David’s mall, Cardiff

In Cardiff the St David’s mall, in the city centre, offers a broad selection of ‘flagships’, particularly in the newer part of the development (although Primark has a modernised store in the first phase of the scheme that dates from the early 80s).

The newer part opened at the end of the last decade, and the total space spreads across 1.4 million sq ft.

Colin Flinn, regional managing director from Intu, which owns St David’s in joint venture with Land Securities, says: “If you look at some of the flagships we’ve brought in over the last couple of years, it’s acted as a catalyst in getting people and new retailers into the centre from further afield.”

This is certainly the case, and the arrival of the largest John Lewis outside London has helped the process.

That said, the Welsh capital has seen many changes since the millennium, as far as its retail provision is concerned.

The closure of the David Morgan department store in 2005 has left House of Fraser-owned Howells and Debenhams to fly the flag for this form of retail in the city.

In David Morgan’s place, a raft of aspirational retailers, including Jack Wills, Joules, Urban Outfitters and Fred Perry have helped to give Cardiff the look and feel of a retail capital.

And unusually, as well as all of the big chains, there is a very significant amount of independent retail action, most of it fashion, to be found in the city centre.

“Like Cardiff, there are a number of voids in this part of Bristol, but for those in search of more chichi offerings, retail activity and upscale pricing is still reliably one of the of the hallmarks of Clifton, up the hill”

There are a number of empty units in downtown Cardiff at the moment, but no more so than in any large conurbation, and this continues to look like a vibrant retail destination.

The same is true of Bristol, which is a city of two distinct retail parts: central Bristol and The Mall at Cribbs Causeway, on the M5 to the north of the city.

When it opened in 1998, the latter seemed destined to kill mainstream retail in the heart of Bristol, with John Lewis deserting the city centre to become one of the new scheme’s anchors.

The 2009 arrival of Primark in the central Horsefair building, occupying the former John Lewis site, and the construction of the Cabot Circus shopping centre, brought life back to Broadmead, the city’s main shopping area.

Like Cardiff, there are a number of voids in this part of Bristol, but for those in search of more chichi offerings, retail activity and upscale pricing is still reliably one of the of the hallmarks of Clifton, up the hill.

As for the retail park and mall at Cribbs Causeway, the car parks are rarely anything less than busy, but this development, which continues to change, draws on a much wider catchment.

Meet the region’s retail stars

Wales and the Southwest are also home to many retail businesses, large and small, including Clarks, fashion outfit Seasalt, DIY specialist Screwfix, home retailer Leekes and the recently opened Days department store, in Carmarthen, among others.

Seasalt cardiff

Seasalt cardiff

Falmouth-based Seasalt

Falmouth-based casual ‘maritime’ clothing retailer Seasalt has been around since 2001.

In that time it has experienced growth of 20-25% every year and now boasts a 44-strong store portfolio, 10 of which were opened in 2016, stretching from Morpeth in Northumberland to St Ives, just before Cornwall finally comes to an end.

And it remains determinedly Cornish, according to Neil Chadwick, joint managing director: “Cornwall’s appeal, the creative and the maritime, has proved to be something that resonates. One of our ambitions has always been to be one of Cornwall’s biggest employers.

“We thought that if we told our story properly, we could appeal nationally and internationally.”

Last year, thanks to strong growth via the web, the retailer shipped to 54 countries.

“Seasalt is an enterprise that identifies not just with the Southwest, but on a sub-regional Cornish scale that is a lot more local”

Clearly, being in a relatively remote part of the country, with the sea in almost every direction and large centres of population being a minimum of two hours away, has not proved a major downside for the business.

Chadwick says that like-for-like sales this year so far are up 3.9% which, when set against the great bulk of fashion retailers, is a stellar performance.

Clearly, handled appropriately, much can be made of the Southwest as a region, and Cornwall is a highly marketable retail entity.

Leekes llantrisant

Leekes llantrisant

Homewares and furniture retailer Leekes

Emma Leeke, managing director of the kitchens, homewares and furniture retailer Leekes, is clear that while hers is a retailer with a “multi-regional” estate, it is a business that takes pride in its origin:

“As a Welsh family business headquartered just outside Cardiff, we have always looked to support other local independent Welsh businesses in our sourcing of products and services.”

Leekes has 10 stores, of which seven are in Wales and the Southwest, and Leeke says that now is a good time for expansion: “For strong businesses such as ours, I think this is an ideal time to consider expansion given the historically low interest rates we are currently enjoying.”

With footprints typically in excess of 150,000 sq ft, this is a bold statement, given the economic backdrop, and perhaps shows that Wales and the Southwest are fertile territory for those with a point of difference and a reasonable bank balance.

The same is true of Screwfix, star of the Kingfisher universe.

“Screwfix is a Southwestern retailer by dint of the fact that its headquarters are in Yeovil, but it has 520 stores across the UK”

Chief executive Andrew Livingston says: “At Screwfix we are proud to be from the Southwest. We are now the second-largest retailer in the region and, as an international, omnichannel retailer, we employ over 2,000 staff in the Southwest and Wales regions.”

Screwfix is a Southwestern retailer by dint of the fact that its headquarters are in Yeovil, but it has 520 stores across the UK.

Nevertheless, it has kept faith with the region and helped demonstrate that although this is a sparsely populated part of the country, labour and resources are available to make retail head offices and operating shops a very viable option.

Like the rest of the UK, Wales and the Southwest are not without their retail challenges at the moment, but there is reason for some optimism. The retail picture will always be varied here, but this is a big canvas.