JOHN LEWIS, one of Britain's largest department store groups, has agreed rental terms for its first overseas outlet at O'Connell Street in Dublin.
It will be the main store in the large mixed-use development planned for a 5.5-acre site around the former Carlton cinema on Upper O'Connell Street.
John Lewis is likely to be paying a discounted rent of about €1.5 million for the flagship store of 23,225sq m (250,000sq ft), as well as a top-up rent based on the turnover.
Dominic Deeney, of promoter Chartered Land, said it had struck a hard deal with John Lewis - "one that we would not do with any other department store".
Chartered Land, controlled by businessman Joe O'Reilly, has long been banking on attracting the British department store to anchor the €1.2 billion Dublin central scheme which is due to open in 2013. It will have over 100 other shops, most of them fashion, to be located along a new street through the site which is to be promoted as the "Oxford street of Dublin".
The arrival of John Lewis is likely to pose a serious challenge for both Clerys on the opposite side of O'Connell Street and Arnotts, which is shortly to embark on a massive redevelopment of the 5.5-acre site between Henry Street and Middle Abbey Street and from Penneys on O'Connell Street to Liffey Street.
John Lewis, which is to invest €50 million in the Dublin store, also plans to open a department store at Sprucefield Centre near Lisburn. It has 37 stores throughout the UK.
The business has an annual turnover of €7.6 billion and employs more than 69,000 staff, all of whom are partners in the business. Profits are "shared fairly" among partners, according to the company. The business model will apply to staff joining John Lewis in Ireland.
Of the £380 million pre-tax profit reported by John Lewis for 2007, £181 million went to the workforce in bonuses, equivalent to 20 per cent of their salaries.
