Nutgrove Shopping Centre at the heart of the Community.
Nutgrove Shopping Centre in Rathfarnham was unveiled to an excited Irish public in October 1984.
It was built in what was then still a very rural part of Dublin. In fact the site for the shopping centre was located on part of the old Lamb's Jam orchards.
The opening of the centre over 25 years ago transformed the shopping experience in Ireland. Suddenly shoppers from across the city and suburbs were able to enjoy Ireland’s first drive through restaurant when McDonald’s opened their branch there.
The American style experience of driving up to the window, ordering your food and driving away was a novelty that many Dublin people remember fondly to this day.
There were other firsts when Nutgrove opened its doors. Another, almost experimental move for the day, was when the country’s first social welfare services office was located in a shopping mall environment for the first time.
And from that day on it has proved a popular success, setting standards for the inclusion of other such offices in other shopping centres. For Nutgrove the social welfare office now provides a vital support service to the local community.
Another key service is the motor taxation office which provides a convenient location for conducting all those taxation business, negating the necessity of travelling into the city centre, looking for parking and getting caught in traffic jams. In fact, some customers tax their cars six monthly to have an excuse to shop in Nutgrove.
Alongside these essential services there is also a filling station, Rathfarnham and District Credit Union, the Post Office and an Axa Insurance office.
Of course the centre offers much more than just essential services.
What would a shopping centre be without shopping? And at Nutgrove there is a wide variety of choice for customers. There can be few shopping centres in Dublin where there is so much on offer and where the main retailers - Tescos, Dunnes Stores and Penneys operate almost side-by-side. It goes without saying that these big three provide all the good food and other requirements for good, healthy modern living.
Then there are the exclusive clothes shops like Susan Ross, Deeor Boutique, Michael H and Lipstick. There is a Boots Chemists, and Argos, Alan Kenneth’s, Book Station, Card Gallery, Golden Discs, Vodafone and Xtra-Vision and lots more.
The most recent addition to the centre is a new food court featuring PHQ, Café Calypso, Burger King, and India Gate that were joined by a new Pretzel Shop which opened in late 2008 and a new Subway alongside Fragola and The Upper Crust Deli.
The food court offers visitors a relaxing ‘time out’ where they can watch and enjoy the 'theatre' of everyday life passing by. As consistently pointed out by fans of the centre it is this calm oasis approach to shopping which is dramatically opposed to the sometimes overwhelming sense when visiting some of larger shopping centres.
With nearly 1,000 free surface car parking spaces, 70 shops and offices and restaurants Nutgrove has marked a quarter of a century at the top of the Dublin shopping centre market and will continue to do so over the next 25 years.
Come and experience Nutgrove Shopping Centre for yourself.