Furniture shops, home decorating stores and "adult shops" jostle for attention on Capel Street, an often ignored part of town.

Dublin Corporation is actively propelling pedestrian traffic in this direction, with the construction of the new Liffey Boardwalk. But while new trendy businesses have started to locate here, traditional furniture stores are feeling the push from large warehouse retailers outside the city and cheap rents are attracting a seedier element that may affect future commercial development.

Located on the northside of the city, west of the prime shopping districts of Henry Street, Mary Street and Jervis Street, Capel Street is classified as a secondary street, considered by many businesses to be too far out of the loop. Pedestrian traffic volumes are too low for mainstream retailers to establish an outlet. So Capel Street evolved as a specialised retail area for furniture and home improvement outlets that have given this street a character of its own.

Now Dublin Corporation has big hopes for the street; new traffic restrictions will allow it to widen footpaths, making the street more user friendly. The construction of the Luas line will also have a big impact and some of the corner buildings adjacent to Abbey Street are earmarked for destruction.

Rents are relatively cheap, ranging from £15 to £23 per sq ft, well below the £30 per sq ft achieved for a similar secondary street on the southside. Refurbished buildings command higher rents and the most sought after premises on Capel Street are those near the quays at one end, and the junction with Bolton Street at the other.

The lower rents suit many retailers. Druker Fanning & Partners is seeking £25,000 per annum to rent a 1,160 sq ft shop at 103/104 Capel Street, which occupies a prominent position on the northside of the street, not far from its junction with Bolton Street.

Gunne Commercial currently has four refurbished office units at Capel Street/Bolton Street and is quoting £35,000 per annum for 934 sq ft of ground floor retail space with frontage on Capel Street, with a further 500 sq ft basement space.

Capel Street still looks down at heel compared with other city centre streets and has a considerable number of shuttered premises. DNG Commercial says that trading interest in the street is picking up, particularly in the part of the street near the quays. This section is seeing a more young design-led business/commercial sector develop.

Trendy GUBU Bar, operated by Jay Burke and Eoin Foyle of Sherland Entertainments, opened in late 1999 and has succeeded in attracting many of the twenty-something crowd who frequent The Globe, The Front Lounge and other bars in the group.

On the opposite side of the street, Jack Nealon's, formerly Handel's Bar, is another cafe-style bar recently refurbished to attract a young crowd. Early house Slattery's of Capel Street is probably one of the best known licensed premises operating here and still retains its traditional image. The Soup Dragon, at number 168, has been open about six weeks , and is one of Dublin's latest hip eateries. A small compact outlet specialising in soup, both eat-in and take-out, this is seen as the future trend for this street.

But these new businesses are all clustered around the quays, while the middle section of the street has seen little redevelopment.

Dublin Corporation's construction of the Liffey Boardwalk should push more pedestrian traffic along the north quays; Grattan Bridge, which crosses the Liffey at the top of Capel Street, is set to become the focus for a Paris-style initiative, with a pavilion and stall area.

There are some 130 retail/service units operating on Capel Street, of which more than 40 are primarily concerned with furniture/home improvements. Widogers, the Hugh Forkin decorating shop, Forsye & Forsye Antique store, and Dublin Furniture Centre are among some of the larger retailers.

While the majority of these retail outlets target the mid-price market, Capel Street is also seeing the emergence of more expensive shops, like Wall Beds of Ireland. While this outlet wouldn't fit the profile of traditional Capel Street outlets, its location means that small business can benefit from the volumes of passing trade. Specialist furniture shops may also become more common here as retailers feel the squeeze of large multiples which have grown around the city.

A walk down Capel Street at night reveals its different face. Gone are the sofas as sex shops open their doors, their presence more obvious due to the limited number of pubs and restaurants. Restaurants are conspicuously absent: Capel Street's only restaurant is Romano's Ristorante, an Italian-style eatery with a reasonably priced menu. There are three other takeaways, and a number of cafes which cater to the daytime crowd, but nothing to anchor the north end of the street.

One leading commercial property agent says that over half the inquiries it receives for this street are from people interested in establishing what are known as "adult" shops, the broad term that covers the sex shop industry. Capel Street has a higher percentage of these outlets than most Dublin streets, with Shaunas, Utopia 2, Utopia and a few more places at the north end.