So how has Bristol's glass-domed Cabot Circus fared in its first year? Most shops have weathered the storm and some have done exceptionally well.

But there have been casualties including upmarket tailor Hardy Amies, which closed within three months of opening, music store Zavvi, restaurant Cafe Amaro, clothes shops Principles, Cruise, and Ghost and lighting store Lombok.

More new shops have opened to take their place, though, such as fashion stores Joules and Gant in Quakers Friars, outdoor equipment and clothing retailer North Face as well as food outlets Bella Italia and Hey Potato!.

Centre director Richard Belt is pleased with the way things have gone.

He was the manager at a shopping centre in Bromley, Kent, in the recession of 1989/90 and at Lakeside in Essex seven years ago, so he knew what to expect.

He said: "We got off to a fantastic start with more than a million people visiting Cabot Circus in the first month, which was just incredible.

"It was the best opening of a shopping centre I have ever seen.

"We are now pretty much where we thought we would be, with about 400,000 people a week.

"Establishing a major shopping centre like this doesn't happen overnight. Give us another six months and we really will be established as a regional shopping destination."

Bristol has moved from 27th to 12th place in the league table of most popular shopping centres thanks to Cabot Circus and by the end to the year Mr Belt expects the city to move up to tenth place.

He says that while trading conditions are still challenging, the "only way is up".

Like all the eateries in Cabot Circus, Giraffe has done exceptionally well.

Manager Matt Fozzard, 25, of Yate, ended up more than doubling his staff to cope with the demand.

He said: "We opened with eight or nine full-time staff and pretty soon realised we would have to take on more people. We ended up with 20 staff.

"I have never seen anything like it. We took double what we thought we would in the first week.

"May and June were pretty awful but then the cost of parking at Cabot Circus was cut to £1 an hour and we have been busy ever since."

Celebrities such as Justin Lee Collins popping in for a meal doesn't hurt trade either. Mr Fozzard said the comedian was "an incredibly nice guy" who posed for pictures with other customers.

At Fat Face in Quakers Friars, manager Jon Drew, 37, of Bradley Stoke, said sales had been great from the start.

He said: "Considering we are in an economic downturn, sales have lived up to our expectations.

"We carry a wide range of men's, women's and children's casual and smart clothing. Our customers are aged in their mid 20s to 40s."

The chain was founded in 1988 and now has more than 160 outlets in the UK.

Card shop Thoughts recently won a national retailing award and has done so well the owners are planning to open six more shops across the country before Christmas.

The first shop opened in Cabot Circus last September, followed in November by another branch at The Mall, Cribbs Causeway.

Two more stores have opened this year at The Bullring, Birmingham, and in Touchwood, Solihull, and a fifth is due to open in Cardiff next month.

Director Matthew Llewellyn, 27, from Newport, said: "We are fitting out three more shops now. Our Cabot Circus shop has done very well.

"We always work to the worst-case scenario.

"It's difficult to judge how things will turn out in this industry but there has been a definite upturn in the last month or so. Christmas is around the corner and we are looking forward to that."

Trendy fashion store Bench has also had a good first year and to celebrate, a team of dancers will be performing in the centre of Cabot Circus tomorrow.

Shows take place at 12.30pm, 2.30pm and 4pm.

The dancers will be modelling Bench's new AW09 range.

And as a birthday treat Bench have also teamed up with Bristol nightclub The Syndicate, for a chance for two lucky customers to win tickets to see Judge Jules live on October 3.