Following a busy weekend of reopening, Buttercrane Manager Peter Murray said stores were delighted to open their doors to customers again following the NI Executive relaxation of Lockdown for non-essential retailers on Friday past.
The major attractions have been fashion stores with full ranges of Spring and Summer fashion, with Primark proving particularly attractive.
The Centre retailers reopened on Friday and most stores were able to offer extended hours in order to spread footfall and enable a safer shopping experience.
The centres’ large anchor tenants Primark, Dunnes Stores and Sports Direct/USC all reported busy weekends at the tills as hundreds of staff returned to work – many of whom for the first time since December 24th.
Centre Manager Peter Murray said: “Many stores reported significantly increased spends per customer, in some cases akin to Christmas time spending – which reflects the pent-up demand there has been for bricks and mortar retailing.
“Early on Friday morning, despite Primark opening its doors shortly after 7am – there was a queue out the gates onto Francis St for some hours. Thankfully the weather was lovely and there was a holiday like atmosphere amongst customer queuing, some of whom waited of up to 40/50 minutes to gain entry.
“Overall, the reopening weekend was highly successful with no significant incidents or issues. It has simply been great to see shoppers out in the mall and I feel those same shoppers are delighted to be able to come into Buttercrane and freely shop the ranges of stores we have available.
“The Centre will continue to adhere to our stringent hygiene and safety protocols, and we appreciate customer patience and cooperation to ensure a safe and welcoming shopping environment for everyone.
“It is likely new there will be at least some element of delays and queues especially for our flagship stores while pent up demand is dealt with in this initial opening period.
“Stores will continue to limit numbers of shoppers in store and we would again ask for customer understanding and cooperation in this regard,” Peter added.
