Boots chooses Dublin's Jervis Centre to launch in Ireland

THE giant UK chemists Boots are to open their first store in the Republic at the Jervis Shopping Centre which is on target to begin trading next November at Mary Street, Dublin 1. The arrival of Boots in Dublin will heighten competition among chemists in the city centre.

Two other chemist multiples, Lloyds and Connors, are also believed to be considering opening in Dublin.

The decision by Boots to opt for the £50 million Jervis Centre will be seen as a further coup by the promoters who have now completed contracts to let 85 per cent of the entire retail space.

Boots will be paying a rent in the region of £450,000 for almost 16,000 square feet of retail space on two levels - ground floor and mezzanine. It will also have an additional 7,000 square feet of storage space and ancillary accommodation.

Boots has been looking at the Dublin market for over 20 years and finally settled for the Jervis Centre because of its prime city-centre location and the fact that it can claim double rent allowances and a remission of rates for the next ten years.

The joint letting agents, Lambert Smith Hampton and Hamilton Osborne King, would not confirm the rent.

The Jervis Centre has managed to attract a range of traders that are not found in other shopping centres. With a surfeit of shopping centres in the Dublin area, it is now acknowledged that new retail developments need several of the big UK names to enable them to compete with the long-established centres.

The anchor tenants at the Jervis Centre will include four of the UK's leading retailers - Marks and Spencer, Debenhams, Argos and now Boots.

The Jervis Centre was in competition with Blanchardstown, Quarryvale and The Square in Tallaght for Debenhams who are to open a 110,000 square foot department store on four levels.

Argos is to occupy 15,000 square feet on the ground and upper-ground floors. The company will be paying a staggered rent which will reach £290,000 in the fifth year.

Marks and Spencer are to link their existing Mary Street store in to the new centre. The provision of a multi-storey car park on the site will be a particular boon to the company.

The opening of the Jervis Centre is expected to strengthen the appeal of the Henry Street/Mary Street area where three other redevelopment schemes are planned.

Boots has 1,200 shops in Britain and 25 in Northern Ireland where its flagship store is located at Donegal Place, Belfast. Most of its operations are department stores incorporating retail chemists and opticians.