Shoppers queue through the night for Clerys sale

BARGAIN hunters queued from 7pm on St Stephen’s Day to bag opening sale offers at Clerys in Dublin yesterday.

A luxurious Odearest Royale 5ft bed worth €1,699 was snapped up for an amazing €1 by Mary McCann from Churchtown, Dublin.

And a Bosch dishwasher reduced from €299 to €90 was purchased by Michael Boyle from Galway.

In keeping with tradition, the first 100 shoppers were served a complimentary full Irish breakfast in the store’s rooftop restaurant. Clerys general manager, Liza Jones, said there was always a fantastic atmosphere on the first day of the winter sale.

“Many shoppers return to us year on year for the winter sale because they know they are guaranteed a great range of quality products at excellent reductions,” she said.

There were queues at Brown Thomas on Grafton street, Dublin, from about 7am yesterday morning.

“We had an amazing couple of hours — it was a great start to the sale,” said the store’s general manager Jacky Byrne.

She said the sale followed the store’s best Christmas on record. And while many were using their Brown Thomas gift vouchers to bag a bargain, Ms Byrne was intrigued at the number of customers who bought more vouchers yesterday.

“They might be late Christmas presents but there has certainly been an incredible demand for them,” she pointed out.

One happy customer was Gertie Wray from Walkinstown in Dublin who bought a Prada bag reduced by 30% to €1,155.

Her husband Peter had purchased a Mulberry Bag for Christmas and she was in the store to exchange it. “I did not like it so I paid €460 more for the Prada.”

Another woman, also there to exchange a bag, ended up buying a Balenciaga dress and a Chloe Jacket as well. Both garments were reduced by 50% to €600.

Centre director at Dundrum Town Centre in Dublin Don Nugent said business was brisk at the start of their sales and followed a very good run-up to Christmas. “We traded ahead of the national average, which is good,” he pointed out.

Next opened first at 5am and had about 600 people queuing outside its doors before its sale kicked off. The sale at the House of Frazer began at 9am with discounts of up to 70% on its fashion floor.

Mr Nugent said the number of people visiting the centre this year was expected to be up 10% of the previous year’s figure.

Tailor Louis Copeland said a lot of men had waited for the sales to pick up high-quality garments at discounted prices. “There is a definite swing away from the cheap suits to the high-quality garments,” he said yesterday.