Shoppers of a rather unusual sort flocked to Jervis shopping centre last week, not to snag the latest deals on sneakers but to throw money at a mall that’s changed hands more times than a hot potato. Up to 13 first-round offers were laid down like an elaborate game of Monopoly for this Dublin city centre gem, which its owners Paddy McKillen and Padraig Drayne decided to auction off, presumably to fund their next big venture—like building a castle made of gold bars.
It seems like only yesterday (read: the 1990s) that McKillen, Drayne, and their accomplice Paschal Taggart were busy developing this shopping utopia. But now, like a nostalgic sitcom spinoff, it’s back on the market for the first time. It’s one of the few remaining relics of the era when shopping centres were the cathedrals of consumerism, built by developers who probably never thought they’d need to sell them off to the highest bidder.
Who’s in the running, you ask? Well, the juicy list reads like a wealth management meeting gone rogue. The Sunday Times claims the Comer Group is in, along with the US property behemoth Hines, Peter Horgan’s Lugus Capital, and Patron Capital, not to mention a little love from David Goddard’s Lanthorn. It’s practically a Wall Street gala, minus the sunscreen.
The auction came on the heels of strong competition for Marlet’s impressive retail playgrounds—think Dublin, Louth, and Tipperary—where even ten initial bids were tossed around like confetti. Retail, it turns out, is the John Travolta of the property investment market, dancing its way back into everyone’s good graces despite the dire predictions that loomed during the dark days of Covid. Spoiler alert: bricks-and-mortar is back, baby!
According to estate agents, in-store spending soared by 2 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to last year, as if consumers suddenly woke up from an e-commerce-induced coma. Who knew our shopping habits were so fickle? Turns out, seven out of ten people still prefer the joy of in-store shopping over the sterile glow of their screens. Cue the triumphant music!
Jean McCabe, the CEO of Retail Excellence Ireland, claims folks are returning to stores for “the customer experience.” It’s almost as if experiencing everything through a screen wasn’t quite cutting it—who would’ve thought? Ironically, stores are now opening like wildflowers, trying to create economies of scale, all while they slip in more food and entertainment options, because heaven forbid you just come to buy a pair of socks.
However, it’s not all golden opportunities; Brendan McDowell, founder of BPerfect Cosmetics, shifted from selling online to flaunting 13 physical stores across the UK and Ireland. He dipped his toes into the market with pop-up stores, where landlords were likely too busy wringing their hands over empty units to refuse him a good deal. “When we first opened in Blanchardstown in 2022, things looked bleak!” he lamented—yet the irony of low offers turning into high profits is not lost on us.
Fast forward through the retail rollercoaster, and suddenly the landscape is buzzing with prospective buyers eyeing the Jervis shopping centre like it’s the last donut in the break room. The asking price of €120 million is high enough to make anyone wonder if this mall has its own stock market, yet it attracts both local and international players. Dozens of offers are swooping in like seagulls at a beach picnic, proving that even in a shaky economy, the hunt for retail gold never really goes out of style.
Despite the hiccups in retail, such as a slew of high-profile store closures, optimism oozes from the charts. It appears that in the game of retail poker, the house always wins—or at least it tries to. With many stores closing, Bannon, the real estate agent, cheekily notes that these ‘empty nests’ might just pave the way for exciting new brands. And who knows? Maybe retail resilience will be the hot new buzzword of the season—because if we can’t buy happiness, we can at least buy a decent shopping centre.
