LAZAROU

Andreas Lazarou

Sixty years of family history, and a new chapter in Duke Street Arcade  

In October 1966, a lease was signed for a hair salon in Cardiff, at a weekly rent of just £4.  

Six decades later, that original document remains in the Lazarou family archive – a remarkable reminder of the beginnings of a business that has become a familiar name to generations of Cardiff customers.  

The lease was signed by Paraskevas Lazarou whose children would go on to establish Lazarou Brothers. The family's first salon opened in Riverside, and the Lazarou name has since become synonymous with hairdressing across the Welsh capital.  

For Andreas Lazarou, who represents another generation of the family business, the 60th anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on the company’s history, and the role Cardiff's historic arcades have played in its evolution.  

Lazarou's relationship with the arcades stretches back decades. The business originally operated from Morgan Arcade, before moving into Duke Street Arcade, where it occupied premises further along the passage, close to what is now the New York Deli.  

Over the years, the family expanded its offering, developing barbering and hairdressing services across several floors. But as shopping habits and footfall changed, it became clear that the business needed to evolve too.  

An opportunity arose to take over a much larger unit, formerly occupied by a bridal shop, with a prominent frontage overlooking Cardiff Castle. The move allowed Lazarou to bring its services together in a flagship location, combining the familiarity of a long-established family business with the space and visibility needed for its next chapter.  

Today, the Duke Street Arcade premises extend across three floors, with barbering services on the ground floor and basement, and hairdressing facilities above. The business has a employs and contracts around 25 people, with plans to create additional salon space to meet demand.  

For Andreas, it's a location unlike any of the group's other salons.  

“I think it's just the energy that makes it,” he says. “It's such a big site and so many different types of people. It's fast-moving, it's exciting.”  

The first-floor windows offer sweeping views towards Cardiff Castle and the bustle of the city centre below, providing an ever-changing backdrop for customers settling in for longer appointments.  

And the customers themselves reflect the business's extraordinary longevity.  

Alongside students and younger clients are people who have been visiting Lazarou for decades, some for as long as 50 years. Parents bring their children, and families return across generations, building relationships with the business that extend far beyond a single haircut. It's a connection that Andreas believes is particularly important to independent businesses, where personal relationships can become one of their greatest strengths.  

The same sense of familiarity extends beyond the salon doors and into Duke Street Arcade itself.  

Having worked in the area for years, Andreas has seen the arcade change considerably. Once a quieter part of the city's historic shopping network, it has welcomed a new wave of independent businesses, bringing fresh energy to its passageways.  

Bars, cafés and specialist retailers now sit alongside established names, attracting visitors at different times of day and encouraging people to explore.  

“I've never seen Duke Street Arcade so thriving,” Andreas says. “There's a life in here now, which is good. It's nice to see.”  

For Lazarou, those new neighbours are more than simply businesses sharing the same address. Andreas describes the friendships that have developed with fellow traders, and the way businesses regularly recommend one another to customers.  

“I feel like the arcades are a bit of a community. I see people in the arcades more than I see my family,” he laughs.  

That closeness, he believes, is one of the things that makes the arcades different from conventional shopping centres. They're places where customers can meet the people behind independent businesses, discover something unusual and experience the character of Cardiff beyond its larger retail developments.  

The building itself carries history of its own. Once home to Jothams outfitters, the premises retain distinctive curved glazing and other historic architectural details. Those features offer a visible link to the retailers that helped shape Duke Street Arcade long before Lazarou arrived – another chapter in a building that continues to evolve.  

For Andreas, it's precisely this combination of heritage and reinvention that makes Cardiff's arcades worth protecting.  

“You can't recreate an arcade. They're unique. They were created once upon a time, and you can't remake what we have.”  

Having watched different parts of the city centre evolve over the years, he believes the arcades' future depends on continuing to attract independent businesses that bring new ideas, customers and energy into these historic spaces.  

And while the Lazarou name has now been part of Cardiff life for 60 years, Andreas remains enthusiastic about the opportunities ahead. “I'm proud to be from Cardiff. I want the best for Cardiff, and I genuinely want better for the arcades.”  

From a £4-a-week lease to a bustling flagship salon overlooking Cardiff Castle, Lazarou's story reflects six decades of change in the Welsh capital.  

But perhaps its greatest achievement is something less tangible: the relationships built with generations of customers, neighbouring businesses and the city itself.  

As Duke Street Arcade continues to evolve, Lazarou’s is both a reminder of its history and one of the independent businesses helping to shape what comes next