FRIARS WALK OPENING DAY | WHAT’S WITH NANDO’S?
What struck me first was the size of the queue. It had to be about a hundred deep straight out of the door. There’s one in nearby Spytty Retail Park. We’ve definitely all seen one before, but Nando’s elicits a very strange obsessive madness that I can completely understand. I wanted one too.
Let’s take stock. We’ve gained: Debenhams, Topshop, H&M, Next, Schuh, River Island, New Look and Jack & Jones. Along with: TGI Fridays, Frankie & Benny’s, Chiquito’s, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Las Iguanas and a Cineworld. This is a city that recently struggled to stretch much further than three Wetherspoons pubs as an option for eating out. I’m pretty sure the presence of a GBK is an internationally recognised signifier of economic prosperity. So our city is looking up.
Downstairs I ran into a friend with a bag of shopping from Debenhams that she excitedly gave me a brief overview of. I asked her what she thought of the development. She looked from side to side, lowered her voice and took a half step closer to me, “It’s really weird isn’t it?” I looked over as another fourteen people joined the queue for Nando’s. She was right. It was really weird. I had done three laps of the upstairs shopping level without once entering a shop. I couldn’t quite figure out what I was looking for, but I now realised it was a catch. And there wasn’t one.
There’s a Next, and a Schuh. They have customers in there. Krispy Crème. I know I’m sounding like a complete primitive here, but I think I’m speaking for everyone when I say it’s a shocking thing to see in Newport.
We aren’t particularly used to promises being kept on this sort of scale. I remember when the last redevelopment fell through around 2008. There had been talk of a Debenhams and some other high-end retailers in the re fitted Kings Way Centre. Once Wilkinson’s and B&M bargains popped up alongside a host of empty units, it was difficult to really see it happening. And it didn’t. We’ve had to learn to be incredibly humble in Newport. If you wanted to shop, you went to Cardiff or Cwmbran.
Alright, we have had to trade our Chartists mural. All the more annoying as the development was paid for by public money lent to the developers. What was obvious is that the public didn’t want to see their money used to destroy the mural outright. Anyway, that milk is well and truly spilt.
The effects of regeneration are starting to be seen. Smaller independent restaurants are moving into premises surrounding the Friars Walk site, now that there is an evening trade to cater for. I can’t wait to have a few pints in our permanent Tiny Rebel Urban Taphouse, and there are talks of a TJ’s inspired restaurant and live music venue on the High Street. But until then, I’m going to join the queue outside Nando’s. I just heard someone say it’s free.
words MARCUS HUGHES
