Jervis Shopping Centre

The Jervis Shopping Centre is a major shopping centre in Dublin, Ireland. Opened in 1996, the centre is located in the area bordered by Jervis Street, Upper Abbey Street, Mary Street, and Liffey Street.

The atrium of the Jervis Street Shopping Centre

History

The centre was built on a 12,000 m² (3-acre) former hospital site, which was bought in 1994 at a cost of £5.97 million. The centre was built at a cost of £76 million.^[1] Most of the facade of the former Hospital has been retained and incorporated into the Shopping Centre.

Although its main entrance is on Mary Street, the centre is named for the Jervis Street Hospital, Dublin on whose site it was built following the hospital's closure in the late 1980s. The existing Marks and Spencer store on Mary Street was incorporated into the new centre, with the other anchor tenants being Quinnsworth (now Tesco Ireland) and Arnotts who have opened a second store in the unit vacated by Debenhams while redevelopment of their flagship store is in progress.

The centre is notable in that, as the first major shopping centre opened during the economic boom of the late 1990s, it marked the first appearance of many British 'high street' retailers in the Republic of Ireland. These included Dixons, Debenhams, Next, and Argos among others, which have gone on to become major names in the main streets of Ireland. This contrasted with existing Irish shopping centres at the time which were usually anchored by local names such as Dunnes, Roches Stores (since taken over by Debenhams), and Penneys. Not all of the new arrivals were successes: British Home Stores opened a store in 1996 having previously sold all of its Irish interests to Primark; however, the outlet was not a success and was later sold to Heatons.

The centre was one of the first to introduce the food court concept to Ireland, with outlets including KFC, Spud U Like, and Harry Ramsdens. Other major restaurants in the centre include Burger King.

The success of the centre also led to its rival, the 1980s-built Ilac Shopping Centre giving its appearance a complete modernisation. This was completed in mid-2008.

Major retailers

• Marks & Spencer
• Forever 21

Public transport

The shopping centre is on the Luas Red line (from The Point to Tallaght).

Preceding station		Luas		Following station
Abbey Street towards Connolly or The Point		Red Line		Four Courts towards Tallaght

Notes

1. ^ "Jervis centre rents may rise by up to 100%". The Irish Times. February 7, 2007. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/commercialproperty/2007/0207/1170363763563.html. Retrieved September 21, 2009. 

External links

• Official site

Coordinates: 53°20′53.5″N 6°15′57″W / 53.348194°N 6.26583°W / 53.348194; -6.26583