Capitol Shopping Centre

When this shopping arcade first opened, it was the height of shopping activity in Cardiff. It also had a cinema. Then when the cinema closed the centre began to look a bit sad and tired. However, in recent years it has had a bit of a revamp and last time I visited it housed some of the most stylish fashion stores in Cardiff. There was Oasis, Kookai, Karen Millen, Benetton, oh and H and M too! Upstairs there’s a large eating area where you could have lunch with friends or just rest with a coffee. It’s not as big as its near neighbour the St David’s Centre and especially not since St David’s 2 has come into the equation. I personally don’t often venture to this part of town anymore as there isn’t the interest for me. I think it could do with some newer shops and something more to entice the casual shopper to make the journey to that end of Queen’s Street.

Capitol centre contains a host of upmarket shops, but then again, if you think about it, I don’t think there are any indoor centres in Cardiff that don’t, which is quite the shame, it does however have a H&M and Internacionale, which are on the cheaper side if designer is not what you are looking for.
Across the two floors of this centre are lots of clothing shops on the ground floor, and a bunch of cafes on the upper floor. The toilets in this centre are some of the best in the centre of Cardiff as they are pretty quiet most of the time.
This centre is practically on the door step of Queen Street station, so ideal to step off a train and right into your much needed shopping experience. The shops do come and go here, I have seen several outlets change over since I have lived in Cardiff, including saying farewell to Virgin which is now a large sports shop.
I recommend this centre as an alternative to using the crowded toilets in St Davids and also for a great choice of cafes.

As I tend to get lost in St David’s, I much prefer the safer environs of the Capitol Centre.
Although there are more high street chains in here, they tend to be the slightly more up market versions. Not massively up market, but Jaeger, Jane Norman and MAC sit alongside H&M, Benetton and Oasis. This is a two tiered affair, and upstairs has some even more specialised boutiques along the gallery around the edge. Vidal Sassoon is a major draw but there are also surf shops and smaller boutiques.
Only once, however, have I attempted to drive there and park in the attached car park. I don’t advise it. The car park is really confusing and has a car wash in it (is this normal? Do I just not get out enough?) It then took me a good ten minutes to find the shops. There was a spiral and too many doors and I got myself all confused.
Worth a look for shopping, but I’d get the bus in!

Since the arrival of the new St. David’s 2 shopping centre, the old Capitol shopping centre has become somewhat dwarfed. The shops in the Capitol are largely chain stores so this isn’t exactly some massive tragedy.
This shopping centre is located at the end of Queen Street closest to the train station and farthest from Cardiff Castle and is home to an H&M, a CD and DVD shop that constantly changes its name, a Tie Rack, and a Costa Coffee. There is a new addition in the shape of Lobster Bob, a surf shop with a large lobster in the window called Bob. That’s enough for me to venture in. It isn’t the sort of shopping centre you’re likely to spend hours in getting lost; it’s basically a large corridor with a two floors of shops. But if you’re the kind of shopper who is inclined to go wandering into as many shops as possible then the Capitol shopping centre is definitely worth a visit.

Back in the day, Capitol was where it was at. The Virgin Superstore was the meeting place of all the teenagers before we all headed out on our townward excursions. The stores were vastly superior to the other Queen Street fare and there were few pleasures better than just sitting propped up against a pillar as you waited for your friend to turn up.
But now, with the Virgin Superstore lost to the sands of time and the capricious whims of its maverick owner, and all the best shops having jumped ship to the brand spanking new St. David’s 2 centre, the Capitol is looking decidedly sad. With St. David’s 2 there to become the main shopping hub of the city, it has become a case of this town simply not being big enough for the two of them. In terms of geography, Cardiff centre is tiny; you can cross the entire thing in ten minutes. There’s no call for twin stores in both centres, and, Capitol being the older of the two, it has lost out.
It’s sad though; Capitol isn’t an ugly centre. It certainly has a charm about it and, if you ignore the back end of it, it is pretty and modern enough to be a respectable part of the city as the council wants it to be seen. Whether they decide to make something of it though, or simply let it fall into irrelevance remains to be seen.

The Capitol Centre — opened in 1990 — is no longer one of Cardiff’s newer shopping centres, since the recent opening of St David 2, but it’s still in pretty good shape (once you get inside) and has some outlets you can’t find elsewhere — such as MAC, for the make-​up lovers amongst you.
A couple of the bigger shops such as Sports Direct and H&M cross both floors. On the ground floor, there are shops such as Orange, Accessorize, Kookai, Fat face, MAC, and Hobbs, plus cafés such as Pulse and SOHO Coffee. Up on the first floor, there are some more shops such as Quiksilver and Christophers jewellery, alongside a couple more cafés such as Café Giardino and Café Caribe.
If you want to eat or drink in Capitol, Café Giardino sells freshly made Italian-​influenced fare, and Café Caribe seems to be more popular around breakfast time and mid morning for snacks and coffees, and is also licensed if you fancy a glass of wine over lunch. I don’t find either of these cafés particularly exciting, either in terms of the décor and environment or the food they serve — if I was to choose somewhere to have coffee or a snack, I’d go to SOHO — the smoothies and organic milkshakes there are pretty good, too.

I know there are newer and fancier places to shop, but I still make my way to the inconvenient end of Queen Street because it’s where my cosmetic sanctuary is housed.
Oh, MAC, how I adore you — as a self-​confessed makeup junkie, it’s the unmistakable Mother Land on my aesthetic crusade.
Anyway, Capitol doesn’t have too much to offer in the way of shops now — most have migrated to St. David’s Shopping Centre, but there are still quite a few quality shops to choose from like Kookai, Jaeger, Orange, H&M and Fat Face, among others.
I’d like to see more independent shops invade Capitol to somehow distinguish it from the high street offer in the surrounding areas.
It’s definitely the quieter shopping arena, compared to places like St. David’s 2 and Queen’s Arcade, but the older and grumpier I get, the more I seek out the tamer retail districts.
Plus, Capitol’s right across the street from Cardiff Queen Street Railway Station, making it a neighbour to one of the city’s major central transportation hubs.

I have very vague recollections of there being a food court up the top of this shopping centre at one time. I imagine that H&M has now taken over that space, and instead we’re left with something that’s just a little bit average.
There are few shops in this centre that have not now been duplicated elsewhere in the city centre, namely in the brand spanking new St David’s Shopping Centre a 10 minute wander away. So there’s unfortunately not a great deal of pull towards this shopping centre.
In fact, I’ve been back in Cardiff since February, and I’ve only gone in the once.
It’s sad, but every shopping centre has their day. With the demise of Virgin CD and DVD stores, this shopping centre has lost its va va voom.

A great range of shops all under one roof.
Vast numbers of clothing shops, restaurants, toy shops and jewelry can all be found here.
The center even has its own car park which means you dont have to walk far back to your car with all that shopping.
Its often quite busy so its easy to loose children so keep them close!

I park the car in the Capitol’s car park so have to go through the Capitols shopping centre to get to the high street. It is a very modern Shopping complex and although not as many shops as Saint Davids, but holds its own well. They have plenty of toliets on the upper floor with two cafes aswell as hairdresses and a roxy shop (a great roxy shop btw!) On the bottome floor you have Zavvi, HMV, Oasis, accessorize, tie rack and Orange shop. It is always less packed than all the other stores aswell at it is at the end of cardiff city centre. A great shopping centre.

Verynice enclosed shopping area which I stumbled upon on my way to the St David’s centre. It was brimming with beautiful ships and so light and airy having been designed in glass and steel painted white.
There is a coffee shop and lots of places like Boots, H&M, Karen Millen and lots more. This was a fantastic place to window shop and when it was cold outside it was a lovely shelter and great place to walk while drinking my latte. The Zavvi in it was huge!

When thiis shopping arcade first opened, it was the height of shopping activity in Cardiff. It also had a cinema. Then when the cinema closed the centre began to look a bit sad and tired. However, in recent years it has had a bit of a revamp and now houses some of the most sylish fashion stores in Cardiff. There’s Oasis, Kookai, Karen Millen, Benetton, oh and H and M too! Upstairs there’s a large eating area where you could have lunch with friends or just rest with a coffee. Its not as big as its near neighbour the St Davids Centre, but if you’re a woman and like fashion, you could probably find all you’ll need here!