Signs of decline in capital shopping mecca

ONCE the rival of London’s Oxford Street and New York’s Fifth Avenue in rental prices, Dublin’s Grafton street is now displaying the affects of the celtic recession — To Let and For Sale signs struggling with “massive discount” posters for shoppers’ attention.

The cold wind of the Icelandic banking collapse is just one of the factors pushing the street from up-market in the direction of bargain basement. The clear shift is evident in one shop-front selling cheap tourist merchandise under a garnish banner declaring “Never mind the recession, see our prices”.

In recent weeks, nearly 10% of the street’s retailers have vacated their premises. Mainly outposts of British multiples, they have fallen victim to the three-pronged assault of sterling devaluation, the Icelandic banking collapse and exorbitant rents.