Department store lined up for old Topshop site
A NEW department store is set to open at the landmark Topshop site on Queen Street in Cardiff.
A company by the name of “15:17” has taken over the space after the fashion chain fell into administration.
The business is a chain that sublets large spaces to other, smaller outlets and has snapped up a number of other empty buildings across the UK.
The company’s website states it is opening up a Cardiff store in “the Arcadia Outfit Store on Queen Street”, but does not confirm when.
15:17 has also applied to Cardiff council for a premises licence for the site at 63-67 Queen Street which would allow it to sell alcohol.
The application, dated April 14, asks to sell alcohol on and off the premises seven days a week.
Savills Estate Agents, which has the property listed on its website, confirmed a lease has been secured for the site.
According to the company’s website, 15:17 stores offer a space where “alongside shopping and browsing you can take an exercise class, see your optician, meet friends for lunch, attend a fashion show, have your hair done by professionals, take the kids to soft play and even post a letter or parcel while collecting your weekly veg box from the local farmers market.”
There are already two 15:17 stores in the United Kingdom, in Ayr and Worthing, but the Cardiff store would be the first one in Wales.
According to its website, it has also secured a number of other empty former stores in England, including a former Debenhams in Canterbury and a House of Fraser in Grimsby.
The Ayr store includes a health and beauty salon and a small scale food market.
Each of 15:17’s department stores also has a “Fresh, Local & Wild cafe” which serves local produce.
The Topshop store closure came after parent company Arcadia fell into administration in November 2020, and a Topshop spokesperson confirmed in December that the shop would not reopen once lockdown restrictions lifted.
It comes as St David’s shopping centre revealed “exciting ideas” for the Debenhams space in the city.
The huge space is soon set to be emptied as the chain holds one final sale to clear its stock after going into administration.
St David’s also confirmed that a huge flagship Zara store, in a separate unit to Debenhams, is joining the centre.
“Solemn” scenes were described on Monday in the Cardiff branch of Debenhams, as non-essential retail finally reopened after months of lockdown for a final sale to get rid of its stock after the chain went into administration.