Paloma selects St David’s for its Welsh debut

The St David’s Partnership, owners of St David’s in Cardiff, one of the UK’s premier retail and leisure destinations, has today announced that Paloma, the independent Italian fashion brand, has opened its first store in Wales at the centre.

The 2,000 sq ft Paloma boutique is located on St David’s Grand Arcade, opposite The White Company, and officially launched on March 25. Designed by an in-house team, the store will feature Paloma’s trademark Italian designer womenswear and accessory collections. Currently trading from a store in Brighton, St David’s marks the beginning of an expansion plan for the brand, as it targets key locations in the UK to create a select number of flagship stores.

This follows a successful year for the St David’s Partnership, a joint venture between intu and Land Securities, which secured over 90,000 sq ft of lettings and a number of key store openings last year, including the largest H&M store in the UK.

Speaking on behalf of the St David’s Partnership, Colin Flinn, regional director at intu, said: “Paloma is a very strong addition to St David’s line-up, adding to the mix of independent retailers that complement the major high street brands. Our strategy of developing St David’s mix in this way ensures the centre remains not only the number one retail and leisure destination in Wales, but one of the most in-demand centres in the country.”

Mandhir Shukla, operations director of Paloma added: “St David’s, Cardiff is a fantastic opportunity for Paloma. We will benefit from being in a destination with a significant regional draw, whilst at the same time maintaining a feeling of independence that is very important to our customers. In many ways, opening our second store is a bigger step than making our debut, so getting the location right was vital. We are delighted with our choice of St David’s, and have received excellent support throughout the process.”

St David’s is anchored by the largest John Lewis outside of London, Debenhams and Marks & Spencer, and also has 200 other shops and restaurants. There is a particular focus on mixing national and international retailers, such as H&M, Primark, New Look and River Island, with premium brands and independents. These include Hugo Boss, Radley, Vivienne Westwood and Jo Malone. St David’s dining offer is equally as impressive, with brands such as Jamie’s Italian, Wagamama and Wahaca, and has recently welcomed Shake Shack’s first site outside of London.

JLL and Cushman & Wakefield advise the St David’s Partnership and Paloma (Italian Design) represented themselves.

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