Partner Article

Not stationary: St David’s Cardiff continues leasing with local brand double

Landsec, part of The St David’s Partnership, owners of St David’s in Cardiff, has signed deals with two independent Welsh brands at the destination: Floris, a sustainable stationery brand, and streetwear specialists The Clothing Culture.

The Cardiff-based stationary brand Floris will open their first bricks and mortar store at St David’s later this month. Founded in August 2020, Floris is a homegrown success story for Cardiff and will now expand its online only operation into a physical showroom. All of Floris’ products are created with zero waste and are sourced from UK-based independent businesses. Their debut store will occupy almost 500 sq ft of prime space on Hayes Arcade, adjacent to the newly refurbished L’Occitane store.

Floris are joined by The Clothing Culture, Cardiff’s first dedicated streetwear retailer. The 5,500 sq ft concept store on the Upper Grand Arcade includes a range of experiential features alongside its impressive selection of menswear. In another first for the centre, The Clothing Culture has teamed up with The Vault Streetwear to launch an instore ‘resell’ department. Here, guests can shop the most in demand releases from cult brands including Yeezy, Supreme, and Jordan.

Commenting on behalf of the St David’s partnership, Russell Loveland, Senior Portfolio Director for Landsec, said: “We’ve seen a clear desire from consumers throughout the UK towards buying more from local independent businesses, so we know Clothing Culture and Floris will make strong additions to the variety of successful Welsh brands we have on offer at the centre. Both brands have found success online and are now taking the next step into expanding their physical presence at St David’s, and it’s great that we’re able to be part of this journey with them.”

Aoife Doherty, Founder of Floris, commented: “Genuinely sustainable products can be designed beautifully, and be durable enough for everyday use. Whether it’s a gift or for yourself, Floris has all stationery needs covered. This will be my first bricks and mortar store which is incredibly exciting, and considering Cardiff is my home, I can’t think of any other place I’d rather take this massive step for my business!”

Matthew Read, Co-Founder of The Clothing Culture, added: “Our roots are in South Wales, so naturally it’s great for us to become part of St David’s here in Cardiff. Like Landsec, we take pride in supporting ‘up and coming’ brands, and work hard to give them a chance in our stores. Our main aim is to give our customers the opportunity to buy things they can’t typically find elsewhere, be it an exclusive new release or a re-sell of a really rare product, so we are definitely adding a new dimension to St David’s.”

This news follows the recent opening of a debut bricks and mortar store for Welsh organic beauty brand, Mallows Beauty, at St David’s, as well as the launch of an experiential store for John Lewis at the centre, showcasing their ANYDAY range in a new format to the destination’s guests.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Libby Gilbert .