The main artery of THE CITY may not be the most attractive street to settle in right now, but retailers are looking to the future.
Gordon Kearney, managing director of Rooney Auctioneers, confirmed to the Limerick leader that there have been three recent retail lettings on O’Connell Street and a fourth is in progress.
“A well-known restaurant chain is moving into the old Dunnes Stores opposite Brown Thomas. I can’t say who yet, but it’s a restaurant,’ said Mr Kearney, who has spent a busy few months showing properties on the street.
He rented 122 O’Connell Street from Veritas, a store of religious books and ornaments. Number 29 O’Connell Street (formerly Nevil’s Shoes) is now Rain Outdoors, a sports/active/running apparel and clothing retailer while 23 O’Connell Street (formerly Leonard’s Menswear) has been leased to Franklin’s Shoe Shop and Shoe Repair which moved from 27 O’Connell Street.
Mr Kearney said commercial customers see value in a newly transformed O’Connell Street
“I walk down the street every day. You meet people for and against who dispute certain aspects. The only underlying message I get is that something had to be done. Our main street looked tired, dated and old – something had to be done. People welcome change, despite the nuisance factor that exists, but we all knew there would be a nuisance factor while the work was being carried out,” Mr Kearney said.
People are eagerly waiting for it to be finished, but there are concerns, he says. These include cleanliness and landscaping.
“I hope and assume that a proper cleaning regime will be in place once it is complete. Landscaping, lighting and signage will be essential.
“We don’t want the street littered with big signs for Cork here and Galway there.
“It has to respect the pedestrian and convivial aspect of the street. The location of bins, plants, bike storage is going to be important to make it walkable, bike friendly but also vehicle friendly,” he said, adding that he did not want cars to be prevented from entering. enter the city.
“I know it’s often a scarecrow for some people, but people drive cars. We have good public transport, we don’t have fantastic public transport. People need to be able to get in their cars and drive We need to be aware of that and make it as easy as possible to get into town, park and shop,” Mr Kearney said.
Covid has accelerated the growth of online shopping, but there will always be a need for bricks and mortar.
“That was changing before Covid and I think the transition to online accelerated during the pandemic. People who wouldn’t normally shop online have been pushed there during Covid. I know retailers are rethinking their strategies for the future. The feedback I get is that bricks and mortar will always play a vital role in their business. So much can be done online, but people still want the shopping experience of going into town, having a coffee or a bite to eat and trying on clothes or shoes,” said the famous curator. -auctioneer.
The experienced real estate agent thinks that the evolution of the retail trade could play on the strengths of the city.
“We don’t need such big stores anymore, the smaller stores could win out, which is great because Limerick has a lot of smaller stores. It was a challenge when you go back 15 to 20 years where big box retailers couldn’t be attracted to the city because we didn’t have those big box stores. Now, with the retail demand changing, we might be able to accommodate their needs as we have a lot of smaller units. The big plus is the refurbishment of O’Connell Street,’ said Mr Kearney, who believes it will become ‘our main shopping street when all the work and landscaping is complete’.
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