Capel Street has lowest retail occupancy level in city centre

Capel Street has the most unoccupied retail units of any inner city street in Dublin. Twenty-three units on the street are presently not trading, according to Dublin City Centre Business Association's most recent Street Audit.

The northside street topped the table followed by seven units not trading on Camden Street and five on Talbot Street, Mary Street/Henry Street and Wexford Street. Wicklow Street was the only street that had no empty or derelict retail units. For the purpose of the survey, a unit varied in size from 1 to 4/5 frontages.

The survey also profiled the outlets in terms of types of business and unsurprisingly, given its long tradition of such shops, furniture and hardware are still the main retailers on Capel Street, accounting for just over one third of all businesses. Significantly, newsagents and grocers are the least popular type of retailers at 2 per cent, which would seem to suggest that there isn't the passing trade or even residential population to support such outlets.

"Things have to happen round here," said Louis Copeland, the country's best-known tailor, who works out of the family's menswear business at the north end of the street.

It was established 50 years ago by his father and Louis says that of the family's three retail units Capel Street is by far the busiest.

While the street does not at present attract a great deal of passing trade this works for some businesses. "Like a lot of shops on this street we are a destination outlet, people travel to the shop in the same way that they travel to the furniture shops on the street."

Like several retailers on the street, he hopes that the Luas, which is due to pass through Capel Street on its way to Smithfield, will bring more people into the area.

"Furniture shops and hardware stores have been the traditional Capel Street retailer", says Kevin Maguire, Hamilton Osborne King Retail Division, "but as these move to out-of-town retail parks which are easily accessed and have parking, there's nothing immediately on the horizon to replace them."

The street does have an extraordinary mix of shops, possibly the most varied of any street in the city. As well as a bank there are several pubs and restaurants, and the list of shop types includes charity shops, hardware and furniture stores, an army surplus, a trophy shop, an art gallery and a sex shop.

Rent levels on the street are relatively low at £15 per 25 sq ft with the average store 2,000 to 4,000 sq ft. "It's a street in transition," says Mr Maguire. "What it needs is for a major retailer to take a big unit there but in reality it would be a very brave person who would do that."

He also suggests that the presence of so many vacant units has the effect of putting prospective retailers off. "There are really good frontages on the street which is one thing retailers look for," he says, "but they come along and see so many vacant units and it puts them off".

There's also something chaotic about the street. The north end has been closed off for several months now to facilitate road works while the south end is constantly traffic jammed due to work being carried out on Capel Street Bridge. Traffic tends to be bumper to bumper along the street all day.

On the plus side, as well as several nearby car-parks, there is also a good deal of on-street parking in and around the area - something that is in increasingly short supply in the city centre.

New people are successfully taking a chance on the street. Last June two former school-teachers, Fiona Fairbrother and Niamh Healion, opened Soup Dragon, an upmarket take-out lunch place. They picked a retail unit in an atmospheric listed building at the south end of the street.

"We like the building and the street," says Ms Fairbrother, "and business is growing all the time". Their daytime trade comes from the Four Courts, the nearby Dublin Corporation offices and from other offices in the area. Significantly they do not open in the evening or on Sundays reflecting the lack of business at these times.

"What happened to Henry Street has to happen down here," says Louis Copeland, who is resolutely optimistic about the street's future. "That has spread to Mary Street, so it's only a matter of time before that spills over into Capel Street."