BarE crumbling brick, concrete pillars and raw aluminium wall cladding - this unconventional retail design is the signature of one of America's trendiest clothing and accessory chains, Urban Outfitters.
Building and renovation work on its Temple Bar location is complete, fitting out work has commenced and the store will open its large glass doors to the style-hungry youth market in late summer.
With a network of 37 retail outlets in all major cities across the US and Canada, the Dublin store will be the second to open outside North America. The Kensington High Street branch in London opened close on two years ago and was an instant hit with its age 18 to 30 target market. Selling everything from secondhand jeans to designer ashtrays, Urban Outfitters markets itself as a one-stop lifestyle store and has been described by The Wall Street Journal as "Gap's evil twin".
Located in Cecilia House, on Cecilia Street, the main entrance will be situated between Fitzer's restaurant and Luigi Malones on Fownes Street. Urban Outfitters are the first big retailers to set up in what is mainly a restaurant, bar and cultural activities area, but the location is viewed as a big advantage. Temple Bar is the main artery for those crossing the river between the shopping hotspots of Grafton Street and Henry Street, and should be a magnet for the younger fashion-conscious crowd.
Hugh Wahla, acting managing director for Urban Outfitters Europe, explains "that the decision to locate in Temple Bar rather than a main retail street is part of our policy; we are not your typical high street retailers, we prefer more off-the-beaten-track locations and Temple Bar is the perfect place for a lifestyle store."
The company will pay a staggered rent which rises to £380,000 after five years for the 14,000 sq ft of space on three levels. A period building which housed the Catholic University School of Medicine from 1855 to 1931, Cecilia House then became a centre for UCD. Urban Outfitters has a strong student/bohemian image that will keep the student tradition associated with this building going strong.
Designed by the architect who handled the London and American stores, Ron Pompeii, the interior will follow the same distinctive industrial design as all other outlets. Exposed brick, corrugated steel, pipes, aluminium and concrete will form the backdrop to a very colourful and eclectic fashion range. An original fireplace remains as a feature, along with large sash windows at the back of Cecilia House - which is now the front section of the shop.
The 14,000 sq ft of retail space is spread out over three main levels, with mezzanine sublevels inserted between, breaking up the floor space. The exterior facade of Cecilia House will remain the same, with the main glass front entrance on Fownes Street.
The store will consist of four main departments, womenswear, menswear, accessories and homewares. An in-house music store called Carbon, where people will be able to compile individual CDs made up of their favourite tracks for around £15, will be a new departure for the Irish market. This service is widely available on the Internet but not yet in Irish retail outlets. (Carbon, part of the Cerberus Service, enables customers to search an archive of over 2,000 music tracks to create a CD with around 10 favourites.) Urban Outfitters will introduce new young and hip fashion labels to Dublin. Womenswear will include Urban Outfitters' own labels Freepeople, Calme and Co-operative as well as British labels like Conscious, Earthwear, Sun & Sand and Born Free and international labels such as Levi and Evisu. Up-and-coming labels Day, Claudie Pierlot, Frost French, Kali and Brach & Brach are also among the fashions which will be on offer. More cult labels can be found in menswear, with Duffer of St George, Product 250, Mandarin Duck, Professor Head and Abahouse.
The top floor of Cecilia House is a very large and light space, with original sash windows on all four walls providing a birdseye view of Temple Bar's many private roof-gardens.
The Urban Outfitters objective is to be a lifestyle store, and while clothes and fashion do feature strongly, it also carries a wide range of home accessories that are designed to be fun - a bright and bold butterfly chair, and multi-coloured sari throws are among the product mix. The housewares department is also label conscious, stocking a range of fashion and lifestyle magazines such as Sleaze Nation, Dutch, Nylon and Dazed and Confused.
"The move to opening a store in Dublin comes after long consideration. Since opening in London just under two years ago, the search has been on for the next store," says Hugh Wahla. "The location and site has to be right, and it was felt Dublin would be an ideal location for the next store. We believe that the concept could easily travel to Dublin and be understood and received by the customer. It seems that many young people from Dublin have visited the London store and are therefore aware of what we are all about and are hungry for the product mix that we offer to be on their own doorstep," he adds. In the US, the Urban Outfitters concept is that the store is a place in which to hang out, listen to music, read magazines and not leave empty handed.
