Dubray opens refurbished flagship shop

Irish bookseller Dubray has opened the doors to its newly refurbished flagship shop on Dublin’s Grafton Street.

The refit comes on the back of a company rebrand in 2015, and was carried out in collaboration with Optimise Design.

The newly refurbished flagship Dubray.

Illustrator Chris Judge, author of The Lonely Beast (Andersen Press) and co-author of Danger is Everywhere (Puffin), has created a "stunning" mural in the children’s section of the store, which has attracted increased footfall and seen children’s sales jump "significantly" since opening, a spokesperson has said.

Judge said: “I was so thrilled to be invited by the wonderful staff in Dubray to create artwork for their beautifully refurbished flagship shop. My piece fills the whole back wall of the children's section so it is a huge honour to have my artwork engage with children every day. I was very conscious of capturing the excitement and fun of reading for all ages and wanted to make something bright and airy, a scene that is an extension to the wonderful book space, something that you could almost step into.”

Illustrator Chris Judge's mural in the shop.

The refurb also included the addition of a coffee offer on the second floor of the shop, where customers can enjoy views of the "iconic" shopping street, while browsing through Dubray’s new Introduces… series, a selection of first chapter extracts from new books that have caught booksellers’ imaginations.

Bespoke tables feature themed collections of titles, and newly designed point-of-sale areas highlight staff choices and recommendations.

The children's area of the shop.

Dubray m.d. Maria Dickenson said: “We are delighted to see our hard work come to fruition in Grafton Street. Our goal with the refurb was to showcase the energy, passion and enthusiasm that is inherent in the Dubray brand, and the customer response so far has been very positive. While there are still challenges to be faced in the trade, we felt it was time to invest in our flagship, and we are looking forward to the road ahead.”