High end yoga apparel retailer and favourite of celebrities, Alo Yoga, is entering the Irish retail market and planning to open its first store on Dublin’s Grafton Street.
The name of the Los Angeles-headquartered Alo is an acronym for air, land and ocean, and the brand is often worn by celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Katie Holmes, Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner.
Alo Yoga Ireland Ltd has lodged an application to revamp 62-63 Grafton Street. A letter to Dublin City Council from architect Deirdre Dolan and SSA Architects on behalf of Alo Yoga said it “is a globally recognised brand known for its contemporary yoga apparel and lifestyle products”.
Ms Dolan noted that “the brand has a modern and sleek aesthetic and they want to ensure that this new store reflects this. To achieve this, it seeks to update the existing shopfront to align with Alo Yoga’s contemporary branding.”
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Ms Dolan said that the alterations planned “are designed to enhance the visual appeal of the premises while maintaining the character of Grafton Street”.
The proprietor of 62-63 Grafton Street is family-owned retail giant Dunnes Stores, and the property director at Dunnes firm Better Value UC, Mark Clifford, provided a letter of consent allowing Alo Yoga Ireland to lodge the planning application.
The brand’s shops are mainly US-based but the opening of the Grafton Street outlet follows on from Alo Yoga opening its first shop in the UK on London’s King’s Road last November.
The company will be hoping to get a slice of the athleisure boom here – a competitor in the yoga apparel market, Lululemon, increased its revenues here by 30 per cent to €12.8 million in the 12 months to the end of January this year as its pretax profits almost doubled to €473,577.
Lululemon opened its standalone flagship shop on Dublin’s Grafton Street in the final quarter of 2021 in a premises formerly occupied by retailer Pamela Scott.
The move by Alo Yoga follows on from two other international retailers lodging plans in recent weeks to open new outlets on Grafton Street.
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In August, fashion retail giant Mango lodged plans with Dublin City Council to carry out works to open its new shop at 112-113 Grafton Street.
In July, a unit of Italian owned make-up group Kiko Cosmetics Ireland Ltd lodged plans for a new outlet at 23 Grafton Street.
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