Holistic gift shop a joy to behold
The fall in rents in the heart of Dublin’s shopping centre has allowed architect Mangala Keenan to open a holistic gift store just off Grafton Street.
After the construction industry went into a downward spiral, Keenan decided that she needed to move out of the sector and into something new, so she set up Joy-Fountain in the Royal Hibernian Way.
”I had the idea for this shop for a long time and, over the past ten years, I have been into yoga and healthy living and this was something that I wanted to do for a while,” said Keenan, whose shop opened on October 1.
”I decided that, with low retail rentals and lower fit-out costs, this was probably one of the best times to take the plunge, as capital costs are minimal.”
Originally from Russia, Keenan came to Ireland 20 years ago on a European community programme to get work experience for the PhD she was doing in architecture, but settled here when she met her future husband, Fintan.
