Irish Examiner view: Former Roches Stores could once more lead a retail resurgence in Cork
Sitting pretty next to its neighbour Brown Thomas, and connecting internally to Merchant's Quay, the now vacant Debenhams store on St Patrick's Street in Cork could be pivotal to a retail revival. File picture
The news that the Debenhams premises on Cork’s St Patrick’s Street is drawing significant interest from potential buyers is a welcome boost to the city’s sense of itself.
For generations of Corkonians, the prospect of walking the city’s main street was a northern European version of the Italian passeggiata, a leisurely stroll taking in the sights and sounds of the city, with the old Roches Stores as the starting point and the former Queens Old Castle the landmark where one turned to retrace one’s steps.
In recent years the backdrop to such a walk has not been quite as romantic. The pandemic hangover manifest in the vacant storefronts along St Patrick’s Street is most striking at the disused Debenhams/Roches Stores site, which overshadows the surrounding area.
If the site were to open again for retail it would go a long way towards restoring the city’s main thoroughfare to its former glory — and act as a clear vote of confidence in the city itself.
The fact that there are several bidders for the property is in itself encouraging enough, particularly when taken in conjunction with other recent developments on St Patrick's Street — the opening of a new and larger Eason's on the ground floor of the old Victoria Hotel, for instance, shows how a longstanding Cork business premises can be tastefully repurposed for the 21st century.
With any luck, Leesiders will soon be ‘doing Pana’ in their droves again.
