Shoppers of a slightly eccentric variety flooded the Jervis shopping center last week, perhaps mistaking it for a bizarre convention of some sort. Up to 13 first-round offers were awkwardly placed, not for the newest tech gadget, but for the Dublin mall that its owners, Paddy McKillen and Padraig Drayne, decided to discreetly place on the market—much like one might hide a winning lottery ticket under an old couch cushion.
This marked the first—and likely not the last—time the shopping center has been listed since its dramatic arrival into existence during the 1990s, thanks to McKillen, Drayne, and their partner Paschal Taggart. It stands as one of the last relics of that retailing renaissance still under the ownership of its original creators, slightly dusty but characteristically charming.
Word on the street has it that some big names were in the bidding ring, including the Comer Group, the precise reason for whose success no one seems to truly understand; the US-based property investor Hines, operating under the guise of “generic American investor”; Peter Horgan’s Lugus Capital, and Patron Capital. Also, David Goddard’s Lanthorn made an appearance, presumably looking for something to liven up the dull afternoons.
The backdrop to this retail bidding war was marked by strong interest in Marlet’s trifecta of retail parks scattered awkwardly across Dublin, Louth, and Tipperary, which received a modest ten initial bids—clearly setting the stage for the grand retail showdown. Retail has hugely outshone its counterparts in the investment sector over the past year, attracting the lion’s share of capital. While offices languish in the depths of despair, retail emerges like a phoenix from the ashes of e-commerce woes. Imagine a mall strutting about in a sequined dress at a corporate conference; that’s retail right now.
Estate agents, looking remarkably like mystics with all their crystal ball predictions, noted that retail deals accounted for half the value of all transactions in the first few months of the year. That’s perhaps the only sector where shopping is still considered a “smart investment,” thanks to reports that suggested the demise of brick-and-mortar was a far-fetched urban legend—even as we all continued to buy our socks and toaster ovens online.
Statistics have become the world’s most popular party guests by showing a 2 percent rise in in-store spending compared to last year. No one is really sure if these statistics are accurate, but they make for some great conversation at dinner parties. And let’s not forget the EY Future Consumer Index released in May, where 70% of consumers allegedly prefer brick-and-mortar stores for buying everyday items—as if they’ve suddenly remembered how to interact with other humans.
Jean McCabe, chief executive of Retail Excellence Ireland, articulated perhaps the truth behind this astonishing revival: customers are “returning to stores for the experience”—obviously counting the experience of awkwardly avoiding eye contact while browsing the organic yogurt aisle. Retailers, in turn, are valiantly opening more stores, probably as a last-ditch effort to achieve economies of scale before entirely succumbing to the e-commerce doomsday clock.
In the grand theater of retail drama, retailers like Brendan McDowell, a cosmetics entrepreneur, decided bricks-and-mortar wasn’t dead after all. He opened up 13 physical stores across the UK and Ireland over five years, because apparently, nothing says “resilience” like jumping into a market that everyone else was fleeing. When he opened in Blanchardstown last year, vacant stores created a perfect opportunity to negotiate “fantastic” terms—because where there’s tragedy, there’s a silver lining (and a fantastic lease).
Ultimately, the markets are flooded with a delightful array of eager buyers, all looking to get their slice of the retail pie. And despite the serious bargaining table antics of lowering asking prices and trivial negotiations, someone’s bound to find just the right discounted deal. One might say it’s the only time you’ll see those involved genuinely happy to be “underwhelmed” by what’s on offer. But hey, if retail is resilient, then why not let the games begin?
