City Centre Retailing:After a dental spa and Italian restaurant, young entrepreneur Emmet O'Neill - a nephew of Denis O'Brien - is opening a third business on South Anne Street this week, writes Robert O'Byrne.

If Emmet O'Neill is all smiles, he has every right to be so. Not only has the young entrepreneur announced plans to expand his chain of dental spas into the UK and US markets but, at the end of this week, he also opens a new restaurant on Dublin's South Anne Street.

That street is at the heart of O'Neill's operations; it's where his office is located on the top storey of a building that gives him a clear view of any other properties that could come on the market. To date he's taken leases on three, the first to accommodate the original Smiles dental clinic and the next for a popular Italian restaurant called Bocca.

Most recently he took over the former Café Java site which, after a complete revamp, is due to reopen at the end of the week as Five, which he describes as having "a casual feel, with all organic food and an interior designed for comfort and style".

O'Neill's well-aware of how much South Anne Street has changed in recent years thanks to the involvement of developers like Paddy McKillen, but he still thinks it can progress further. "When I look at this street, I think it has everything: it's got high fashion outlets, a number of good restaurants, some steady old businesses and Keogh's, in my opinion the best pub in the city."

Furthermore, "you can turn off two of Dublin's busiest streets onto this peaceful little oasis; that's a big plus in its favour".

Hence his interest in the street since he started up his own business two years ago. Not yet 28, O'Neill studied commerce with finance at UCD before taking a job with Anglo Irish Bank. This was followed by an 18-month spell with Aergo Capital but, even during this period he had begun to diversify, helping to bring the franchise for Curves, a women-only gym chain that originated in the US, to Ireland in 2003. Curves's Irish operation is now run by his older sister, Sahra O'Neill.

After leaving Aergo Capital and spending some time with Curves, O'Neill and Dundalk orthodontist Hugh Bradley came up with the concept of Smiles and opened their first clinic on South Anne Street in August 2005.

"The experience I gained at Curves," he says, "allowed me to understand how brands can create the right impression."

Initially, Smiles was intended to offer simply a teeth-whitening service but it quickly became apparent that many would-be clients required other dental work; today it provides everything from check-ups and polishing to orthodontic and cosmetic treatments.

Smiles has grown quickly; it now has four outlets, the second in Dublin being in a former Bank of Ireland premises on O'Connell Street, plus one each in Cork and Galway; the company now employs more than 50 staff.

In the coming year O'Neill and Bradley hope to open further Smiles branches in Limerick and Belfast, as well as invest €2 million in a move into the competitive London and New York markets.

"We're looking at properties. It's very much about spending time in a place, getting a feel for it, not looking at demographic surveys, but walking around and seeing what works."

The business operates more like a branded retail chain than the typical dentistry practice, with weekend opening hours and the availability of a walk-in service.

"We try to be on the high street or just off it," says O'Neill of his choice of locations. "The place needs to be convenient."

It also needs to be easily accessible, which explains not just the Dublin locations but also the choice of Oliver Plunkett Street in Cork and Middle Street in Galway.

Initially, he financed his investment in setting up Smiles by selling a house he owned in north Dublin. In September 2005 the partners sold 20 per cent of the company which, he says, was even then valued at €3 million. "Now we strongly believe it's worth about €8 million."

Meanwhile, he has also moved into the food business, a field with a notorious track record of failure. O'Neill accepts that this is the case but once again argues the key to success lies in picking the right location - and that South Anne Street could hardly be bettered.

"If you've the right location for a food venue and if you sell the right food for the right price and if you meet the needs of your customers; if you match those expectations, then you'll have a successful business."

He and another partner, Brian Martin, opened Bocca in January 2006 and they are now following this with Five where "we'll be applying the same approach we took with Smiles".

Naturally, the fit-out for the new restaurant has been done by another of O'Neill's businesses, a building company that specialises in upgrading existing structures.

It comes as no surprise to learn that Emmet O'Neill is the nephew of another well-known entrepreneur, Denis O'Brien, but the connection is deliberately underplayed.

"Anyone who knows him will know how helpful and generous he is with his time," says O'Neill of his uncle. "Yes, I have run ideas by him but I'd often know what he's going to say even before I ask him."