Why doesn't Dublin have a dedicated "high-fashion" street?

Aard

In London there's Bond St; in Paris there's Av Montaigne. Even smaller cities like Copenhagen and Nice have streets lined with the likes of Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Hermès. How come all of these fashion houses have their Dublin "stores" in Brown Thomas or House of Fraser? Is it that renting a concession in these department stores is cheaper than setting up a stand-alone on Grafton St?


(I should probably add that this doesn't concern me that much -- I don't shop in their likes -- it's just something I noticed after having been away.)

starbelgrade

It's supply & demand - there's simply no need for them.

Aard

The demand is clearly there - just look at Brown Thomas. My question was more about why they are all in Brown Thomas, rather than just having stand-alone stores.

phasers

well if you turn off Grafton St onto wicklow St there's a few around there, I suppose they just wanted to be based in/at BTs because they already had the customers

tfak85

although they are essentially consessions i'm pretty sure you get a chanel, LV or hermes bag when you buy stuff there which you don't get elsewhere in BTs.. this kind of makes them shops of their own right...

starbelgrade

Aard wrote: »

The demand is clearly there - just look at Brown Thomas. My question was more about why they are all in Brown Thomas, rather than just having stand-alone stores.

If there was a demand for them to have stand-alone shops & it made economical sense, they would have them. Succesful businesses like this do extensive market research before settin up anywhere & for whatever reasons, be it lower rental costs & existing trade in the likes of BT, that's why they are located there.

Supply & demand.

Pythia

Aard wrote: »

The demand is clearly there - just look at Brown Thomas. My question was more about why they are all in Brown Thomas, rather than just having stand-alone stores.

The demand just isn't there to justify an expensive shop with high rent, etc.

PrettyBoy

Dublin isn't a world fashion capital like London and Paris. If Gucci/Prada/Louis Vuitton were to open a flagship store in Dublin it wouldn't last long, regardless of the economic climate.

dingbat

Without being completely facetious, take a look around you... Dublin is not one of the world's fashion strongholds...

compsys

Hey,

I've often wondered about this too.

Firstly, as far as I'm aware, when the main fashion houses like Gucci and Prada etc. take a concession in BT's they actually have to sign an agreement NOT to open any stand alone stores nearby as this would affect their sales (and hence BT's commission) in their BT store. I know it sounds strange but I remember reading something about it in the Sunday Independent a few years back when they were trying to make the new retail development on South Anne street a mini Bond street. Incidentally, this development failed to attract any of the fashion houses, such as Armani, that it was targeting.

Also, the demand probably isn't there. We Irish aren't into our labels as much as our European counterparts. Most Irish woman, for example, would happily spend just a few euro buying lots of different handbags in all the mid-market high street shops, whereas your average French or Italian would prefer to wait, save, and then splash out on a €300 plus designer bag which they'll keep for years. The same is true for men. I'm not saying this is always the case, just in general.

Also, the lack of designer shops isn't restricted to simply luxury brands. Hundreds of popular mid-market labels, such as Guess, Diesel (the real one), Miss Sixty, Calvin Klein etc. etc. all have no stand alone shops in Dublin as far as I'm aware. It's so annoying but the demand doesn't seem to be there - remeber Guess opened, and then closed, their stand alone store on South Anne Street within the space of a year.

Finally, I know that some shops won't open in Dublin as the city simply isn't classy or stylish enough. I remember hearing rumours a few years back that Gucci were scouting for locations in Dublin for a store but stopped once they saw what was on offer. And as we all know, A&F continue to refuse to open up on Grafton street because they feel the area is too tacky.

PrettyBoy

compsys wrote: »

A&F continue to refuse to open up on Grafton street because they feel the area is too tacky.

I thought they were going to open a store in Dundrum Town Centre? Mind you, I heard that years ago...

compsys

PrettyBoy wrote: »

I thought they were going to open a store in Dundrum Town Centre? Mind you, I heard that years ago...

Dundrum would appear to be an ideal place for them to open but most of the rumours are just wishful thinking on the part of young, D4 shoppers! They are still scouting for a place but are notoriously picky about where they open up.

DJDC

Noticed this myself. Even a small place like Salzburg has a LV shop. The main reason in Ireland must be the absence of "old money" and inherited wealth. Most of the wealthy Irish come from very ordinary backgrounds and simply have no interest/desire for designer items. We have very little generational wealth in this country, most of it fled out of the country after the Civil War.

Purple Gorilla

Well tbh, Brown Thomas is quite a prestigious name and store so I can imagine that high-end brands choose to locate there because they want to. Also, the high-end brands can have a store on the high-street (within BT) but not have to pay the extortionate rent to have a standalone store on the street.

Also I'm pretty sure that the reason A&F won't come to Dublin City is because the grafton street store spaces are too small. That's why Apple won't locate there. O'Connell Street has sufficient store space, but it's not as upmarket as grafton street so they don't want to locate there

speedboatchase

Irish people tend to begrudge people that spend money on designer labels, I get it quite a lot from my mates - "how much did that cost ya?" etc, and expect that it's actually their business to ask, whilst anyone interested in fashion outside the high street is "up themselves". It's just the Irish mentality

compsys

Purple Gorilla wrote: »

Well tbh, Brown Thomas is quite a prestigious name and store so I can imagine that high-end brands choose to locate there because they want to. Also, the high-end brands can have a store on the high-street (within BT) but not have to pay the extortionate rent to have a standalone store on the street.

Also I'm pretty sure that the reason A&F won't come to Dublin City is because the grafton street store spaces are too small. That's why Apple won't locate there. O'Connell Street has sufficient store space, but it's not as upmarket as grafton street so they don't want to locate there

A&F won't set up on Grafton Street because they feel it's too run down and has too tacky a mix of shops. This has been well reported in all the major newspapers. To quote Colliers Jackson Stops, a leading estate agent:

"The thoroughfare took a series of knocks earlier this year when it emerged that Abercrombie surveyed the former Habitat store on College Green as a possible location for its first foray into the Irish market and deemed adjoining Grafton Street as too downmarket because of an 'unattractive mix of shops'."

If A&F feel this way, I'm sure others do too.

Interesting comment from DJDC about the whole generational wealth thing. I'd never thought about it like that but it's probbo true...

EU RULES

Because Ireland has a poor country mentality.

miss no stars

maybe it's because of the designer rip-off mentality

So many scumbags have rip off designer stuff. And so many of them also have the real thing. No self respecting designer label would want to open up in a market where the people that can afford (or could stretch to affording) it will think it's not worth it because all the knackers go out and buy it or a rip off of it.

In handbag terms I'd spend anywhere from 50-400 on one I like. But it sure as hell ain't gonna have a designer logo on it anywhere or be the "it bag" of the season because I'll just see rip offs of it walking towards me on moore street.

PrettyBoy

compsys wrote: »

Dundrum would appear to be an ideal place for them to open but most of the rumours are just wishful thinking on the part of young, D4 shoppers! They are still scouting for a place but are notoriously picky about where they open up.

I could be wrong but I was under the impression that A and F only had stores in the U.S. - nothing in London, Paris, Tokyo or anything like it. The article that talked about A and F looking at Dundrum stated that it would be their first store in Europe.

Purple Gorilla

There's an A&F in London

imme

compsys wrote: »

Hey,


A&F continue to refuse to open up on Grafton street because they feel the area is too tacky.

:Dx75000
Oh yeah I can't wait for the day that A&F come here and we all have to wear the same clothes. What a joke. There was a programme on BBC last year that dealt with Saville Row tailors and how they're dealing with competition and new trends in fashion. A & F opened a new store near Saville Row, I don't think it was on Saville Row, but it was just all so 'publicity driven' run of the mill ****e, everyday clothes. The owner of A&F went to a tailor on Saville Row and got a suit made. He was the funniest guy, orange face (fake tan) and rubber lips (botox I guess).
for anyone wondering what A&F is, it's Abbercrombie & Fitch.

I'm sure there are a few retailers who set up in Ireland in the Tiger-days and are regretting it massively now, like Hackett on South Anne Street in Dublin.

herya

compsys wrote: »

And as we all know, A&F continue to refuse to open up on Grafton street because they feel the area is too tacky.

Yeah because A&F are so sophisticated...

They are just talking rubbish and we lap it up. I'm sure people would fall out of love with A&F rather soon if they opened up here and were actually, gasp, available.