TRADITIONAL Dublin flagship department store Clery's is going to present a new face to city shoppers - and it will be using a lot of cosmetics.
A €2m renovation of the store will completely redevelop the facade on O'Connell Street to include a frontage like BT on Grafton Street, offering views straight into a dramatically enlarged cosmetics hall.
When the new-look store is unveiled next month, its cosmetics department will have doubled in size and will offer innovative treatments including foundation applications by airbrush.
The new renovation was partly prompted by a major rise of 25pc in the footfall on O'Connell Street since the city's main street was refurbished.
It follows a recently completed €22m refurbishment programme of the store that took six years to finish.
The introduction of new brands like Karen Millen attracted younger faces to the shop that had been long associated with middle aged and elderly shoppers.
The 7,000 square foot cosmetics hall will include new brands including Smashbox and Origins as well as a 'Mind Body and Soul' organics section. A new jewellery section will be at Sackville Place.
The company hopes to expand nationally and is currently eyeing potential sites, following the opening of a 9,000 square foot home furnishing store in Naas last October.
General Manager Liza Jones (31) said backdrops at three of the seven large windows on O'Connell Street will be removed, while four will continue to have displays. "Cosmetics is a key department for us," she said.
Liza said the project is due to end in mid-June and is being carefully undertaken to keep in mind the heritage of the store.
The listed building was one of the world's first purpose built department stores when it opened in 1853.
Anne-Marie Walsh
Irish Independent
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