When the Dundrum Town Centre, Co Dublin, opens on March 3rd on its 17-acre site, the main tenant in the first phase of its development and the biggest shop will be House of Fraser, the British department store that boasts more designer labels under one roof than any other.
Among its best sellers are global brands such as Armani, Diesel, Polo Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and DKNY, but Irish designers Aideen Bodkin, Quin & Donnelly and Mariad Whisker are also included in a list of over 70 brands.
This is House of Fraser's first venture outside the UK, where it has 47 stores. It represents an investment of €40 million, creating 400 jobs.
"It is our first entry into international expansion; we have spent four years on the research and planning of this project," says Irish general manager Ms Jean Ann Taylor, former manager of Clerys. She worked with House of Fraser in Britain in l993-96.
The company, which began as a small Glasgow drapery shop in l849, won control of Harrods in l957 and was purchased by the Al Fayed family for £615 million in l985.
During the late l980s it suffered heavy losses, branches closed and over 1,000 staff were laid off. The group, without Harrods, went public in l994 and was floated on the stock exchange for £484 million.
The Dundrum store will have a 102,000 sq ft trading area spread out over three floors (lined with ceramic porcelain and wood), housing women's wear, men's wear, children's wear and home furnishings.
A particular feature of the store will be a huge red wall, a central pivot or beacon to orientate customers from one floor to another.
When completed, Dundrum Town Centre, an investment of €650 million by Castle Crossridge Developments headed by property developer Mr Joe Reilly, will be the biggest private development in Ireland. The massive glass entrance of the main building with a façade dressed in granite, limestone and brick faces a central piazza, Millpond Square, dominated by an old cedar tree and a copper beech which have been retained around the restored walls of the old mill pond.
With rents of €3,500 per square metre, phase one will see the opening of 100 stores, mostly branches of British multiples such as Marks & Spencer, Monsoon, Principles, River Island, French Connection and Argos as well as Zara, L'Occitane and Hugo Boss.
Newcomers like House of Fraser have been attracted by the location and demographics of the site, six miles from the city centre.