Re: Re: Roches Stores gone!

Sorry to differ but Roches Stores (Henry St apart) has been rubbish for years. Made no real effort to compete, the Roches were happy with the property portfolio and that was that. As for the Henry Street store and Jervis Street I’ll see what I can find out but think they can coexist given Henry Street is largely rented out to concessions and there’s little if any crossover in terms of brands.

@StephenC wrote:

So why have we not seen any major changes in the structure of the city centre. But why nothing more radical? Why do streets such as Liffey Street, Mary Street, Malborough St, North Earl Street and Talbot Street remain relatively untouched by this retail boom. And indeed why has OConnell Street not seen a marked upswing. I am not sure how this new spread of Henry Street into Parnell Street wil work out. The two latest projects, Ivy Building and corner of Kings Inn Street, are still empty.

Basically it’s down to footfall and landbanking. Arnotts is obviously landbanking around Henry Street, Liffey Street and Abbey Street. Mary Street is awkward because there are a lot of disparate owners and why would they sell when retail rents are surging and their investment is increasing in value all the time. Talbot Street and North Earl Street doesn’t have the footfall to make it worthwhile, North Earl Street is hampered by Clerys owning lots of property there – why sell to a competitor – and Arnotts apparent reversal of its decision to sell the Boyers store. Marlborough Street is too far away from retail core. O’Connell St is still regarded as a hole in retail terms. Obviously Joe O’Reilly has plans to link the Millennium Mall up with the Ilac Centre but that legal dispute will probably drag on for years, it’ll be interesting to see what Shelbourne Developments do with the old Eircom building – the Moore Mall was a disaster retail wise for them. The Ivy building is very much a tertiary location and will eventually find a tenant but probably nobody of major interest.
The city council’s plan is to join up the Grafton Street/Henry Street retail areas via South Great Georges Street and Temple Bar. I’m a bit sceptical about that but it’s time to wait and see…