Shopping Spree or Bidding War? You Decide!
Last week at Jervis shopping centre, shoppers of an unusual kind gathered—not to snag bargains on the latest trends or to sip overpriced latte. No, this crowd preferred coming equipped with spreadsheets and calculators. Yes, **up to 13 first-round offers** were tossed around like confetti for this Dublin city centre landmark, quietly listed on the market by its enigmatic owners, Paddy McKillen and Padraig Drayne. Who knew shopping could be so cutthroat? Oh, the irony!
It’s been a hot minute since Jervis shopping centre graced the market—since the ‘90s, to be precise—when the world was a simpler place, and people still wore parachute pants without irony. It’s one of the last survivors of its kind still owned by its developers. Enter, stage left, an impressive roster of potential buyers including the likes of the Comer Group and US property giant Hines. For them, shopping is less about impulse buys and more about targeting prime real estate.
In a delicious twist of fate, this auction follows a solid fit of bidding for Marlet’s retail parks, which dominated the auction stage recently like celebrities at a red carpet event. Ten bidders scrambled over retail parks in Dublin, Louth, and Tipperary—much like those post-Christmas sales, but with higher stakes and less merchandise.
Let’s be clear about one thing: **retail** is what the cool kids in property investments are flocking to these days. They’ve turned brick-and-mortar into the desired trophy, waving goodbye to their office space investments. During the pandemic, watching retail seem to stumble was like witnessing a long-running soap opera get canceled—depressing! Yet, like a phoenix, it resurges triumphantly, proving that the clichés about retail’s demise were exaggerated, just like your uncle’s fishing tales.
As for the statistics? AIB recently revealed that in-store spending is up **2%** compared to last year, making it clear that people might actually enjoy leaving the couch and engaging in some charming human interaction—what a novel idea! The **EY Future Consumer Index** even discovered that a staggering **70%** of consumers still prefer bricks-and-mortar shops for their everyday items. Who would have thought that humans crave face-to-face transactions in this digital age?
Jean McCabe from Retail Excellence Ireland declared that shoppers are “returning to stores for the customer experience.” I guess trying on clothes without the awkwardness of a Zoom call has its perks. Meanwhile, retailers are leaping back into expansion mode to delight the masses, with shopping centres morphing into entertainment hubs that dare to keep up with Netflix.
However, not all retail parks are created equal. Some are flourishing while others languish in the land of high vacancy rates, giving off a vibe that screams, “apply within.” Even with big-name closures, it seems new entrants are more than happy to fill those once-sacred retail carpets.**Retail has had a PR makeover!** So whether you’re bidding for a shopping centre or hitting the mall for bargains, one thing is clear: retail is far from dead; it’s just wearing a snazzy new outfit.
