CITY CENTRE traders have admitted the new £50 million Jervis Shopping Centre will initially effect other businesses. However, hey maintain the development will ultimately benefit surrounding outlets.

Traders say the centre, which opens on November 1st, will help to lure more shoppers into the city. The centre has attracted a number of heavyweight British multiples including Boots, Debenhams and Dixons, the giant electrical retailer.

City centre shops will also be vying for business with the Blanchardstown shopping centre, which opens next month. Blanchardstown will initially have 104 traders and 375,000 square feet of retail space.

Both centres have benefited from the major uplift in the Irish economy and a concerted drive by UK retailers to establish footholds here.

For established retailers, the competition will become even more intense as businesses fight to retain their existing custom. However, if they are worried about the prospect, there is no indication of it.

The Jervis centre will initially affect units in places such as the ILAC centre, says Ed McDonald, chief executive of the Henry Street/Mary Street Partnership, which was set up by the main stores in the area.

"Initially, other stores will lose a little as people go to the Jervis Centre - it's the `curiosity factor'."

He says "nowhere else in the city will you find two such shopping centres [ILAC and Jervis]" offering such a range of retailers.

He points out the two centres will bring the amount of retail space in the area to approximately 2.25 million square feet. "This is six times the size of The Square in Tallaght and four times the size of the Blanchardstown Centre."

Mr McDonald argues that the range of shops will make the area more attractive. "There is a move back to city centre shopping. People want to come into town, do some shopping and then browse around.

"All public transport comes into the city centre and with the car-park developments in the Henry Street, Abbey Street, Parnell Street area, there is now ample parking."

The ILAC is also in discussions with Dublin Corporation concerning upgrading the centre, says Mr McDonald. He believes the quality of tenant in the centre will rise. Besides, he says, the Jervis and ILAC centres will be attracting slightly different types of shoppers. An added bonus is that Argos will have two stores "virtually within 200 yards of each other" - one of which is in the ILAC centre, he says.

Arnotts has said it believes the Jervis Street centre and the Blanchardstown centres will initially draw away some of its business. The company is spending £34 million developing an extra 160,000 square feet of retail and office space at its Liffey Street and Middle Abbey Street properties.

The managing director of Arnotts, Seamus Duignan, says the store is happy about the Jervis Street centre because it broadens the selection for shoppers. The company expects continued growth, but the developments will slow down its expansion.

Like their Henry Street counterparts, Graft on Street retailers say they welcome the competition which the Jervis Shopping Centre will provide.

Pia Bang Stokes, who runs Pia Bang, a leading women's fashion shop, says "there are lots of shopping centres but Grafton Street will always be Grafton Street".

She says it is very difficult to make a shopping centre upmarket and that one of Grafton Street's strengths is that it is full of shops opening out on to the street.

"The trend has returned to people going into town to shop, have lunch, meet people - make shopping an event," she says, "whereas a few years ago the trend was towards shopping in local shopping centres.

Ms Bang admits it would have been great for retailers to get Boots into Grafton Street. The Jervis Shopping Centre may be very busy in its opening months, she says, but shopping patterns will soon settle down.

A Brown Thomas spokeswoman, Dolores Delaney, says the development will bring more shoppers in to the city centre. Grafton Street will be able to cope with the competition, she says, and the Marks & Spencer development in Grafton Street, which has cost the multiple £40 million, will also boost the street's attractiveness

As regards "poaching" customers from the southside of the city to the northside, Ms Delaney does not see any long-term effects for Grafton Street. "People may be curious and cross the Liffey to visit it, but the Jervis Centre will not be much of a threat."

She does not see the Jervis Centre posing a threat to Brown Thomas, which carries stock exclusive itself, as well as "crossover brands".

Pia Bang says the key to competing and running a successful shop is to have varied stock, to offer customers a choice. "If you have the right stock, people will come to you," she says.

Tom Coffey, chief executive of the Dublin City Centre Business Association, says more retailers will mean customers will have more choice. However, he warns that retailers who do not make an effort to face competition will be forced out of the market.