Grafton Street is to get a much-needed boost with the arrival of one of London's top jewellers, Boodle & Dunthorne, writes Jack Fagan.
One of London's top jewellers, Boodle & Dunthorne, is to open its first Irish outlet on Grafton Street, raising hopes that Dublin's premier high street might still regain some of its former elegance and charm.
The street has been steadily slipping since many of its independent traders were forced out by high rents to be replaced by tatty UK chain stores.
Boodle & Dunthorne will be paying a rent of over €520,000 per annum for 71 Grafton Street where the dress suit rental company Suits You has been trading for several years.
The UK-based Speciality Retail Group, which owns Suits You, received over €400,000 in compensation for surrendering its lease to the landlord, Friends First. The new rent level works out at a Zone A rate of €8,000 per sq m (€743 per sq ft). The shop previously traded as Racing Green and before that as Dunkin Donuts.
The high profile building has a floor area of 418sq m (4,500sq ft), including 83.6sq m (900sq ft) on the ground floor and 46.4sq m (500sq ft) at mezzanine level.
Boodle & Dunthorne is expected to use other floors to design and craft its own jewellery.
The company was founded in 1798 and has shops in London's fashionable Sloane Street and Regent Street, within Harrods and in the Courtyard of the Royal Exchange.
In the north-west of England, Boodles is one of the leading jewellers in Manchester, Chester and Liverpool.
Bernadine Hogan of Hamilton Osborne King handled the new letting.
