Hotel Chocolat to open first Irish café
British chocolatier chain Hotel Chocolat has announced its plans to open its first ever Irish café. The brand will open an Irish branch in Dundrum Shop will be opening its first ever Irish café this October. According to Retail Times, the new venue will occupy a 102 square metre space in Dublin’s Dundrum shopping centre and will be offering customers a number of new cocoa-based beverages as well as the firm’s full range of exclusive chocolates. Commenting on the announcement, Simon Betty, director of retail for Ireland at the company that owns Dundrum shopping centre, Hammerson, asserted, “Hotel Chocolat is a perfect fit for Dundrum, where it will trade alongside other premium brands…Since taking ownership of Dundrum last year, we have worked to leverage our relationships with domestic and international brands in order to ensure an exciting and fresh retail mix, and this latest debut is a testament to the success of that strategy.”
Arnotts to get further €4m refresh
The Selfridges Group will invest €4m of fresh capital into Arnotts, the iconic Dublin department store. The capital will be used to enhance both the group’s store as well as its online presence and IT capabilities. There has already been significant work done to the store, which will continue over the next 12 to 24 months. The store has redesigned its interior layout, with its famous ‘Shoe Garden’ moving from the ground floor to the first in order to bring women’s footwear and clothing together. The store’s accessories and beauty halls will be refurbished and popular fashion brand Michael Kors will be added to the store’s offering. The store is working on an overhaul of its website, Arnotts.com, which will soon be relaunched following a substantial investment as well as a redesign.
Release date announced for Heidi Klum’s fashion line with Lidl
Supermodel Heidi Klum’s much-anticipated clothing line with supermarket Lidl has been given a release date. The line will be officially launched at New York Fashion Week on September 7th and will be available in 10,000 stores worldwide from September 21st. The collection will feature clothing, along with shoes and accessories. Prices said to be starting from €5.99 with Klum saying she wanted to “create fashion with a wow effect that is easy to combine and makes every woman look fantastic – and all at an unbeatable price.” The new collection is titled “Esmara by Heidi Klum: Heidi and the City” and both Klum and Lidl have shared teasers of the collection ahead of its fashion week launch.
