- Culture
- 09 Apr 01
Frank Hutchins browses through the GPO Shopping Arcade which offers a myriad of stores for the delectation of all you shopping buffs out there.
Although it might seem bizarre to start a feature about one of our city’s best-loved and most-travelled shopping arcades by talking about a computer game, the truth is, if it hadn’t been compulsively playing one over the last three weeks, I’m sure I wouldn’t have seen the G.P.O. arcade in quite the same fashion. PC buffs will undoubtedly recognise the simulator game, Sim City 2000. In it, one is required to create and maintain a living city of one’s own devising. Being a more intelligent city planner than I could ever hope to be, the game itself responds positively or negatively to the laying out and zoning of the town with an eye to how even the smallest detail might affect the circulation and traffic of business.
In that respect I found myself considering the arcade a stroke of urban planning genius. Ideally located in the commercial centre of Dublin, it offers a shaded respite from the hustle of O’Connell Street, yet maintains the same competitive pricing found anywhere else in the neighbourhood. Following the bombardment of O’Connell and Henry Streets seventy-five or so years ago, the Commission of Public Works bought up the demolished properties that had stood behind the G.P.O. When building was finally finished and the Arcade was opened to the public, the feature most commented on was the unusual curved roof. Supported by parabolic concrete blocks, it provided the maximum amount of light and was something of a coup for Office of Public Works architect, Thomas Joseph Byrne.
The early decades of the Arcade saw it largely seconded by the Post Office and the Government Information Office, though a some shops did manage to get in. Most famously, perhaps, was Woolworth’s which, while facing onto Henry Street, maintained a huge side-entrance in the Arcade. It wasn’t really until the late Eighties, however, following a massive refurbishment designed by the firm of Keane, Murphy and Smith that it became the thoroughfare that it is today.
Every week, over 130,000 people pass through it. Last week I numbered myself among them. It wouldn’t have been my first time nor likely to have been my last.
The Gap clothing store has been the arcade’s flagship tenant for quite some years now, and I doubt there are very many Hot Press readers, even from outside Dublin, who haven’t ventured on in to pick up a pair or two of jeans from time to time. They’re rightly famous for the range of styles, colours and brand names they carry. The pricing on them also reflects a wide range, but even the most heavily discounted brands (and I saw a pair going for as little as £16.99) still represent top value for the quality they offer. My most recent pair were of unbleached denim, from Levi’s, and cut to demonstrate what three months of dieting and working out can do for even the most imperfect pair of buttocks. I don’t think I’d have dreamed of even going anywhere else to find what I needed. Besides, the place smells great with all that suede and leather everywhere. I love the look of the varnished industrial floor, too. (And the staff don’t look so bad either.)
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The Gap also stocks really cool shoes, funky hats, and a limited, but wicked, selection of shirts. Obviously, it’s wrong to think of it as only being a jeans store but, let’s be honest, no other shop in town treats denim as seriously as The Gap and its staff do. For an equally serious denim wearer, there’s simply no competition.
Of course, the G.P.O. Arcade has many other clothing stores for both men and women. By simply criss-crossing the handsomely tiled floor, one can satisfy any taste or requirement. This time around, I was particularly drawn to the lively selection of suits and sports jackets there. By choosing to represent some of the smaller design labels like Gierre and Amici, they’re really helping to make stylish cuts and colours available at a fraction of the price you’d pay on the other side of the Liffey. Their range in shirts was also pretty impressive with designers like Oggo, Andre and Sonneti bringing in an equally well-constructed and colourful range of shirts.
Of course, for casual wear all the well-known names are represented; Firetrap, Best Direction, Stamp and Kickers to name but a few. (Have you seen the latest in informal shoe gear from Kickers? You should, you know) The owner, Paul Byrne told me that cord trousers, knitwear and check, button-down shirts are going to be the big thing this autumn. I’ve no doubt he may be onto something.
Two of the Arcade’s premiere outlets stand at either side of the Henry Street entrance, Clark’s shoes on one side and Lawrence’s Jewellers on the other. Clark’s is, of course, but one of a well-known and trusted chains of stores retailing fine footwear all across Ireland for yonks now. Lawrence’s, however, is something more of an institution with Dublin shoppers. Carrying a wide and varying range of rings, brooches, necklaces, earrings and all the other paraphernalia of personal adornment, Lawrence’s also carry an outstanding variety of watches and timepieces with everything from the latest Swatch designs to gold-plated mantle clocks in stock. Seriously, there are enough gold watches in there to fill, at least, a hundred retirement homes.
There’s more as well. Silver-plated picture frames, heavy-duty desk sets and just about every executive toy you could think of. Without a doubt, Lawrence’s is a must-stop for every and any occasion, special or otherwise.
Happily, the Arcade also features a comfy little coffee shop where you can rest your shopping bags and have a decent feed before carrying on out to the hectic traffic of mid-town Dublin. If you’re in too much of a rush for Cafe Aroma (Get it? Cafe a Roma?) though, you can grab a tin of minerals and some chocolate at the newsagents that stands right at the far end of the Arcade, where it opens out onto Prince’s Street, the Candy Corner.
Directly opposite the newsagents is The Hair Shop. Far more than simply a beauty salon, they not only cut hair (and superbly I’m assured), but also retail a much larger assortment of haircare products than you’d find in your local chemists. They’re also doing a promotion on the latest in stand-up tanning rooms. Six minutes evidently does the work it took a sun-bed twenty minutes to accomplish. Probably with a third of the space as well. (Must tell them to put tanning rooms into the Sim City programme.)
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It occurred to me, in fact, that the G.P.O. Arcade is probably the only one in the world where you can start at one end getting a make-over and come out the other buying an engagement ring. Alternately, you could always use the money you saved for your holidays buying something outrageous for yourself in Lawrence’s at one end, get the tanning session at the other and still tell everyone you spent that modest fortune in Ibiza. Just a thought for when winter comes around and you’re afraid your friends might think you’re looking a little too pale.
If, on the other hand, you decide on the first scenario you could do worse than stop into SpecSavers en route to that engagement ring. After all, it never hurts to see exactly what you’re getting. By which, I don’t necessarily mean the ring itself.
Speaking as a bespectacled person, they really do offer the very best deal in town. You can, quite literally, get two pairs for as little as £59.99. If you simply buy a pair of glasses from them in the £59.00 price range (which includes both lens and frames.) you can get a free back-up pair from SpecSavers’ own £39.99 price range. Even better, if you don’t care for any of the frames on offer, they’ll simply give you a £40.00 voucher to put toward any pair of glasses in the shop. There are lots of pairs to chose from, too, with banks upon banks of frames for both ladies and gents along with a huge selection of round-frame styles that appeared to be genderless,
My myopia is so bad, I’m one of those people whose nose touch the mirror when I’m trying on glasses. I wasn’t surprised that I soon came to the attention of a salesperson. If I were in her shoes I would probably have been annoyed to see yet another near-sighted person smudging things up, but Carol was as helpful as you could wish. You can bet that I’ll be making a visit there soon.
I shouldn’t forget to mention all the stylish shops for women’s wear you’ll find there, too. Shops like Frantic, Often, and Ton Sur Ton. They all cater for the briskly-paced lifestyle of today’s working woman, and all offer attractive items with affordable price tags.
There you have it, the G.P.O. Arcade. As inspired a bit of urban planning as you’ll see anywhere in Dublin. It’s comfortable and attractive and its sixteen retail units can certainly satisfy the needs of nearly any shopper. Unless, of course you want to buy a stamp. But then, that’s obviously the reason why they built it right behind the G.P.O. .
Like I said, it’s a city-centre success story.
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Oh, incidentally, the Arcade’s impacted pretty positively on my own crisis ridden career as a Sim City 2000 city manager. Speaking as a computer game addict that alone would have made my most recent visit worthwhile. When you get down to it, the tan was just something of an extra.