The pre-Christmas battle lines are again drawn as the out-of-town shopping centres bid to lure the big spenders from Dublin's city centre.
However, the once heralded demise of the city hasn't happened with retailers still pitching for key city locations. Meanwhile, there's a lengthening queue to locate in new developments as expansion is held up in both Dundrum and Stillorgan, with proposals for a factory outlet in Goffs, Co Kildare, also on the planning back burner.
Liffey Valley Shopping Centre opened its doors in time for the Christmas rush last year but it hasn't affected city centre trading, says Neil Love, of Druker Fanning. "Nearby Blanchardstown hasn't been hit either," he adds. "The mix of Dunnes Stores and Roches Stores is marginally better there than the Marks & Spencer and C & A mix at Liffey Valley, where a grocery store is badly needed. Blanchardstown also has a retail park and when there is a similar facility in Liffey Valley it will make quite a difference." Liffey Valley is seeking planning permission to expand with a further 35 additional units and a major Tesco store, though limits on the size of out-of-town supermarkets has put a damper on specific plans for the complex.
The city centre continues to hold its own against the onslaught, Neil Love says. "Grafton Street is doing exceptionally well. Irish people still like to shop in town and, once parking is looked after, they will continue to do so." The only lease to change hands on Grafton Street in the past year was the opening of the new Racing Green fashion store where the leasehold interest was sold for in the region of £400,000.
Neil Love describes Grafton Street as a "credit card" street as against Henry Street which is a "cash street" and is also booming. Again, lease interests rarely become available here although 27 Henry Street was let in the past year to H P J jewellers, at a zone A rent of £240 per sq ft, about 30 per cent up on the previous rental.
Pressure is constant on city centre stores to compete in terms of Sunday trading with the out of town outlets.
The Square in Tallaght continues to be strong, adds Neil Love. The management changed there during the year with Glenrye Properties taking over.
David Potter of Hamilton Osborne King confirms the strength of the city centre. The lease of the former McCullough Piggott building in Suffolk Street was sold for a price in the region of £800,000, and Avoca Handweavers is due to open there in the new year. "There is still huge demand from retailers to open up in the city centre," he says. "Any decent shop would get big money for a lease. Retailers are looking at the streets in and around Grafton Street and Henry Street. There have been few new lettings in Wicklow Street and there is a huge pent-up demand from retailers to move in. The fact that people can't get into the city centre is evidence that the city is not over-shopped."
And delays in developing the out of town centres have merely heightened demand all round, he says. "There is certainly a great shortage of supply. People will in future make longer journeys to shop and the retailers are aware of this. The new development in Swords is on site but the failure of Dundrum to get planning permission was a big shock, and the delay in Stillorgan has also been a setback for retailers."
Castlethorn began the year well by securing planning permission for the new £190 million town centre development in Dundrum. The complex was to include a 350,000 sq ft shopping centre with a 32,000 sq ft supermarket on a 21 acre site.
In February, Castlethorn paid £14 million for the existing Dundrum shopping centre which has been hampered by a lack of parking facilities. However, An Bord Pleanala rejected their plans for the Dundrum development. It is now back to the drawing board with revised plans still to be submitted.
Treasury Holdings planned an £18 million revamp of Stillorgan Shopping Centre, which would have more than doubled the total square footage there to 225,000 sq ft, and would have included Marks & Spencer as a major anchor tenant. However, An Bord Pleanala gave the plans the thumbs down and revised plans have now been submitted.
Work on a major town centre in Swords is under way, with Flynn and O'Flaherty developing the new centre on a site of over 20 acres between Main Street and the Swords bypass. The centre adjoins the Superquinn complex and David Potter reports strong interest from retailers.
The Stephen's Green Centre celebrated 10 years of trading with the confidence to issue rent reviews. Zone A rents were increased by 20 per cent to £130-£140 per sq ft. Powerscourt Shopping Centre got a revamp, with French Connection moving in to two floors and acquiring street frontage along Clarendon Street.
Other developments were the opening in Killarney of the country's first retail factory outlet and the arrival in Dublin of German cut-price supermarket chain Aldi. And speculation grew that US supermarket giant Wal-Mart was going to make a play for the Dunnes Stores chain. The Swan Shopping Centre in Rathmines was sold to Omniplex Holdings for £13 million. And in O'Connell Street, the Millennium Mall has been held up by legal problems.
Meanwhile, the planned factory outlet in Kill, with 45 units on an 86,000 sq ft site, is awaiting the go ahead from An Bord Pleanala.
In Cork, a 10,000 sq ft extension to the Douglas Court Shopping Centre was opened with Next doubling its square footage there and Sacha, Gymboree and Ecco among the traders moving in.
The Mahon Shopping Centre development close to the new Jack Lynch Tunnel is waiting to get the go ahead from the planners. It will have 180,000 sq ft with the developers planning a mix of Irish and UK retailers
In Galway, a major extension to Eyre Square Shopping Centre is due to open in Shop Street in the New Year with Dunnes Stores as anchor tenant.
