Reinventing Retail on Thomas Street
Tourist Footfall: Untapped Potential The large tourist footfall which plies the route to the Guinness Storehouse each day is largely uncatered for on Thomas Street and many visitors see little reason to stop. The street has none of the craft shops, galleries, bookstores, or curio stores one might expect for such a prominent tourist route with a major art and design college at its centre. Yet the tourist footfall offers enormous commercial possibilities to the street and, if properly catered for, could drive a renaissance of retailing on the street. However, the unsympathetic public realm created by high volumes of traffic, narrow and poor quality pavements and the lack of trees reduces the inclination to linger and spend money on the street, while poorly presented buildings and shop fronts and an uninviting retail mix fail to attract the casual shopper.
Above: A dispiriting view of the southern section of Thomas Street - the main route for tourists - shows a hotchpotch of uninviting and shuttered shops. There are few of the quirky fashion shops, cutting edge design boutiques or trendy hair salons which might be expected to develop close to the National College of Art & Design. Likewise tourist uses such as bookstores or craft shops have failed to establish on the street, despite the estimated 200,000 foreign visitors which ply this route each year.
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