Claire's Accessories, the UK-based fashion accessories firm, is to invest more than £2 million sterling (€3.42 million) as part of a 25-store expansion in the Republic, which will create some 250 jobs.
The company has contracted Jones Lang and La Salle as its property agents in the Republic and is planning to open at least five shops before the end of the year in prime city centre locations.
Claire's Accessories specialises in retailing fashion jewellery and other trendy accessories targeted at the "tweenie market" - girls between the ages of 10 and 14.
The company has 14 shops in Northern Ireland and more than 300 stores across the UK, but it has yet to open a branch in the Republic.
Mr Lyle Finlay, finance manager of Claire's Accessories, said the move into the Republic was a logical extension of the company's rapid European expansion. It wanted to take advantage of the fast-growing economy and the young population. He said stores would be spread throughout the State, but that Dublin was an attractive location.
Claire's Accessories is a subsidiary of Chicago-based Claire's Stores Inc, a publicly-listed company on the New York Stock Exchange, with some 3,000 outlets worldwide.
