{"id":487352,"date":"2026-05-16T07:22:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T07:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/487352\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T07:22:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T07:22:07","slug":"were-rapidly-turning-into-a-city-of-hotels-independent-temple-bar-store-receives-notice-to-vacate-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/487352\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We\u2019re rapidly turning into a city of hotels\u2019: Independent Temple Bar store receives notice to vacate \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the first floor of a fashion store and cafe in Dublin city\u2019s Temple Bar<\/a> on Friday afternoon, Ann Downey approached a store attendant to relay her shock.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally sorry to hear,\u201d she says. \u201cSomething will come up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked how long they have, the Indigo & Cloth employee\u2019s answer is inaudible, but Downey looks surprised.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband is a big fan of this place,\u201d Downey tells The Irish Times. \u201cWe just like good-quality, well-sourced clothing and also independent shops. We\u2019ve been coming to this business for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Downey, who lives in Rathmines, says coming to Indigo & Cloth has become a \u201croutine\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got this here,\u201d she says, lightly grasping the edge of her jacket between her fingers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s terrible,\u201d she says, having heard the business received a notice to vacate the property. \u201cI think we have a great city here, but we\u2019re rapidly turning into a city of hotels for tourists.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think our retail mix in Dublin is very bland. I like my fashion but I like good-quality clothes, and I like to know that the fabrics will last and not end up in landfill.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndividual shops give a place resilience … it gives the city strength and it supports community.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"DescribingDescribing Indigo & Cloth’s notice to vacate as ‘terrible’, customer Ann Downey believes retail in Dublin has become ‘very bland’ <\/p>\n

Upstairs, Andy Collins, who established Indigo & Cloth in 2007, says he has until July 15th to find a new location.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re staying positive,\u201d he says, having received the notice in recent weeks. \u201cI think when you\u2019re renting anywhere within Dublin city you\u2019re always worried about not being in complete control of your future.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, it was taken by surprise,\u201d he says, and while he is \u201cnot privy to what\u2019s going on\u201d, he notes that the landlord has \u201cplans\u201d for the building. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re incredibly appreciative of the time we\u2019ve had here,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Despite the notice, Collins says he feels \u201cquite sanguine\u201d, adding that the move could \u201cbe the making of us\u201d. He hopes to move somewhere \u201cGrafton-adjacent\u201d.<\/p>\n

Collins says any commercial units available to rent are seeking a \u201chigh price\u201d as they have the attention of international brands.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Reuse of vacant buildings could meet 40% of Dublin\u2019s housing targets, report findsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s just the reality of the Dublin we live in at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

He wonders if there is \u201csomething the Government can do\u201d to retain an \u201celement of curation\u201d or independent spaces.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we\u2019re definitely not the only ones who would struggle to find a realistic space in the area we want to go to, but that\u2019s part of every modern European city at the minute,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Collins is optimistic that there are \u201cvacant properties everywhere\u201d in Dublin city, believing some landlords are \u201cwaiting for the right opportunity\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s hopefully what we\u2019ll get,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the first floor of a fashion store and cafe in Dublin city\u2019s Temple Bar on Friday afternoon,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,52,18,13,14,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,3439,26479,7,8],"class_list":["post-487352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-dublin","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-retail","tag-temple-bar","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116583055308230134","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}