Empty Shops on Crowded Streets – Galway Ranks Third in Ireland’s Business Vacancy Rating

Eyre Square is starting to fill well into the evening hours as the days are longer and warmer, and contributing to that buzz is the well-known Galway business that just snagged prime real estate in the square.

Dough Bros Pizza announced on Instagram on the 20th of February the introduction of their “newest member” to the chain, and the location showed a prime spot known for heavy foot traffic and tourist interaction – the corner of Eyre Square.  

However, the new pizza parlor is unique in scoring such a spot, as recent studies show Galway ranked third in the country for empty shops and businesses, proving that commercial real estate is at a steady decline in the city.

Following Sligo and Donegal, Galway has a vacancy rate of 18.5%, up half a percent from the 2023 numbers, according to GeoDirectory.

Local business owners are shifting their perspective when they think about expanding into new spaces, saying that the lack of property available for a reasonable price prohibits any sense of urgency. Growing the size of a business is a cost factor when you consider the output of purchasing, renovating, and curating a new space. High overhead also stands as a roadblock for spaces.

The Director at EY Economic Advisory, Annette Hughes, states multiple factors in the price increase and difficulties around securing a commercial space, such as changes in consumer habits and post-COVID shifts in business and marketing.

While small businesses struggle to grow, large ones suffer from the commercial real estate concerns in other ways. This change is seen explicitly in the recent news that the Edward Square shopping center in Galway City is again up for sale, but at a 70% lower asking price than purchased for in 2013.

Shop St bustles with tourists and Glaswegians enough for businesses to see a light at the end of the tunnel, but is expansion worth the trouble of moving to a new place, and then paying for it?