Great Outdoors, Dublin’s leading supplier of outdoor clothing and equipment, is to relocate from Chatham Street to South Great George’s Street, where it has leased an extensive new store next to Five Guys fast-food restaurant.
The company has agreed a rent in the region of €350,000 for a spacious 696sq m (7,500sq ft) store, which will allow it to stock an even larger range of outdoor clothing and equipment.
Great Outdoors, which was launched 42 years ago, is owned and managed by Ken Costigan and Derek Mooney. It has 40 employees.
According to Costigan, the move to George’s Street allows Great Outdoors to open a flagship store in an iconic location to offer a much better shopping experience and a first-class working environment.
Great Outdoors was opened in 1976 by Gerry Collins, who competed in the 1972 Munich Games, and Leslie Lawrence, another sports enthusiast. They saw a gap in the market for a blossoming adventure-sport industry in Ireland.
By the time Great Outdoors became a limited company in 1983, the focus had shifted from one that covered all sports, including tennis, hockey and football, to a much more adventure-driven sports such as kayaking, surfing, scuba diving, mountaineering, skiing, backpacking and rock climbing.
The substantial block of buildings on Chatham Street, including Great Outdoors, is owned by overseas developer Oaktree, which has planning permission to redevelop a large part of the street.
Great Outdoors was advised by Stephen Murray of JLL.
