The owner of a popular beauty clinic in Dublin’s north-inner city has spoken of making the difficult decision to close her Dorset Street store over a series of intimidating and violent incidents.
Stephanie Simons is the owner of the well-known clinic Bowie Aesthetics, with her premises on Dorset Street being the brand’s first. The award-winning clinic is just a two minute walk from O’Connell Street. She has another clinic on Pearse Street, which will remain open.
She told Gript that when she first opened her clinic “there were a few isolated incidents” but now that “there are literally gangs of men, who are not Irish, hanging around”, some with weapons.
Ms Simons, who has over 14,000 followers on Instagram, took to the platform to share the announcement that she was closing her Dorset Street store. She says she is heartbroken by the decision, and that in the four years since she opened her store, the situation has spiralled out of control.
In a video explaining the decision, she attached clips of recent incidents that took place outside the shop – including one of a man standing outside the clinic door looking in the window and making hand gestures. In the video, a woman can be heard repeatedly telling him to go away, but he remains outside the window.
Stephanie says that due to men coming up to the door of her business, her staff had to get their boyfriends and partners to come and pick them up after work because they were too frightened to go home alone. Further footage, shared widely across social media earlier this month, appeared to show a group of men running down Dorset Street with cricket bats and pipes.
“I am from the area and I’ve lived there all my life. But I don’t feel safe going to work anymore” the businesswoman said, adding that it’s also not safe for her clients or customers.
Speaking to Gript, Stephanie explained: “I’m well aware that it can be a rough area, and I was well-used to the robberies and other things that have gone on. However, it’s gotten increasingly more dangerous. Even for me, as a girl from the area, I feel unsafe now.”
“In the video I posted, you can see people with machetes and knives, in broad daylight on the street outside. That’s just next level. A member of my staff had to take a week off work after witnessing the violence outside. The street was covered in blood. I’m thinking, what on earth? We are left wondering what is going to happen next? What if someone came into the shop and did something?”
The owner of Bowie recalls several incidents and a general edge to the area being present when she first opened her doors – but says that things have reached the point where she is afraid for locals coming to collect vouchers or book appointments. She says that the street is now essentially a “no go zone.”
“That’s where I’m at. When I first opened, there were a few isolated incidents. There would be men standing around drinking cans, and things like that, but I was used to the area. But now it’s totally different. There are literally gangs of men, who are not Irish, hanging around. I’ve seen gangs of them come out of shops with weapons. It’s just barbaric. There wasn’t that behaviour before, but it’s just escalated and I dread to think what’s the next escalation from this?
“I tried to tell myself ‘it’s not that bad,’ but it just got worse and worse, to the point where I’m left thinking what’s next? Yes, we’ve had trouble in the area in the past. You’d have had the odd handbag-snatching and that sort of thing – I was used to that as I was born here – but this is something different. This is something unknown.”
Stephanie told Gript that a host of new shops have opened around the corner from her shop, the majority being foreign-owned shops and businesses. Those causing trouble and seen on videos in fights are not locals.
“I’m probably one of the only Irish shops left on the road where I am. There are a lot of new shops beside the Garden of Remembrance which are owned by foreign nationals, so a lot of the men congregate there. It has reached the point where groups of men are outside on the street constantly, and I was having to warn customers to be safe, to cross to the other side of the road, directing customers on how to get home safely, and it was just getting ridiculous. I could see my customers, who are mostly female, were in fear.”
Stephanie says that despite splashing out on the shop’s interior and trying to make things as pleasant as possible for customers inside, the street violence has reached such a level that she has to shut up shop.
“I spent so much money doing up the shop. I put everything into it and tried to improve things. I even spent money that I was saving for a mortgage on making the shop nice, almost to try and negate what was going on outside. But it’s gotten to the point where no matter how nice the shop is inside, it doesn’t matter because of the location and where it is. I can’t put my clients or my staff in that situation and in that kind of danger. Things have deteriorated so much.
Stephanie alleges witnessing men fighting with sticks, knives and machetes. This, she says, makes her fearful for clients, especially those who have children who may come with them to appointments.
“Imagine a child seeing that and the trauma of that. My main clients are women and of course with women come children. So I am fearful of that. It’s just disgraceful, and it’s downright barbaric.”
She does not blame Gardai fully for the situation, although the entrepreneur points out that the terrifying situation has been allowed to continue unchecked.
“I understand that the Gardai can’t be there all the time. I understand things happen fast. But at the same time, there seems to be more and more of this behaviour. It’s increasing, and there’s no crackdown. Certain areas are plagued by this type of behaviour, yet Gardai are never there to deal with it. And by the time they’re able to come, the situation is probably over. We contacted the Gardai at the time, but fights are happening constantly. There have been so many more incidents that we haven’t even recorded.”
Stephanie agrees that the area has been “ghettoized.”
“There’s no way that a girl on her own could walk up to the shop on her own in the winter after getting the bus to O’Connell Street. It just wouldn’t be safe. It’s really a disgrace.”
While she says she is heartbroken to let the business go, Stephanie explains that it was a “last resort.”
“I’ve exhausted every option. This is not just a decision that I made overnight. I’ve tried everything, I’ve changed staff members, treatment, the shop’s interior – I’ve done everything I possibly could to make things work in that area. But it’s just for the best that I finish now. We can’t carry on trading on Dorset Street. I hope we’ll be able to keep going on Pearse Street and that we don’t see similar behaviour there.”
“In Ireland, women are cherished, but unfortunately it’s not like that in some other cultures. It’s a real shame that we are seeing this sort of behaviour. But safety is the main thing for me. Money comes and goes, but it’s no longer worth the sleepless nights, the stress and the worry of having to keep the shop going. Safety has to come first.”