Danish chain Joe and the Juice to open first Irish outlet

Danish sandwich and health food chain Joe and the Juice is to open its first Irish shop on Dawson Street in Dublin in May.

The venue, which will be situated on Grafton Place near Trinity College, will be 2,200 sq ft and will create about 30 new jobs in the city. The group is understood to be spending in the region of €600,000-€800,000 on the facility.

Founded in Copenhagen in 2002, the chain has grown to over 450 locations worldwide including New York, Dubai, and London. It counts sandwiches, juices, smoothies, and coffees among its products, and has a focus on health.

Jon James, the group’s managing director, said the company’s target is to open another three or four outlets in Dublin this year, each of which would employ about the same number of people.

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“We’re targeting areas like Baggot Street and Grand Canal Dock to begin with,” he said. “We’ve got our eyes on a number of areas around Dublin and we think there is plenty of space to grow out the brand there.

“We’ve seen Irish customers show up for us in London and beyond for years, so opening in Dublin has been a long time coming.

“There’s an incredible energy to this city, from the buzz around Grafton Street to the creativity running through places like Portobello and Ranelagh.

“Dublin is ambitious, social and full of momentum, which makes it the perfect place for us to put down roots.”

He said the group’s target audience is “young, energetic, ambitious people”, and that the chain has “a real focus on that sort of healthy lifestyle”.

“We try to elevate the focus on fitness,” he said. “We have run clubs wherever we go, and we have plans to do a lot of that around Dublin as well.

“The run clubs basically involve activities we organise in the areas we operate through social media. We get customers to congregate at the store and do a 5km or a 10km run around the city and they get discounts and benefits when they land back at the store.

“We do this very successfully around the various cities we operate and that’s the type of experience we are hoping to bring to the city.”