'I do miss the buzz': St Stephen's Day sale shoppers in Cork are a dying breed

Bargain hunters in Cork city centre say the queues outside stores are more 'civilised' these days, as more people stay home and shop online

Shoppers queue outside Brown Thomas on St Patrick's Street on St Stephen’s Day morning. Pictures: Chani Anderson

Anne O’Brien may well have been one of the first people to race into Brown Thomas in Cork City on Friday morning, but she is also one of a dying breed.

A veteran of early morning St Stephen’s Day sales, she remembers a time when she had to start queuing at 5am to get into the city’s Next branch to buy clothes.

Anne O’Brien and Fiona Maguire wait patiently in the queue outside Brown Thomas on St Patrick's Street.

But those days are long gone, and she said it had all become more "civilised" these days.

“I go to the sale every year so I can pick up a decent bargain,” she said.

“But you do notice that not only are fewer and fewer people queuing up, but stores are either not opening on St Stephen’s Day, or they don’t open until 10am.

Yes, it is more civilised but I do miss the buzz that there used to be, and the camaraderie that there used to be among those people who came from all over the county for early queues.

“It was good fun, and you met lots of people.” 

The Mercy Hospital nurse, from Innishannon, Cork, and her friend Fiona McGuire, from Timoleague, were among about 200 people who queued outside the entrance to Cork City’s Brown Thomas, where the doors opened at 10am.

Although she had hoped for a discounted bag, which she couldn’t find, Anne did get a pair of Mint Velvet trousers and a “gorgeous white sweatshirt” for her forthcoming holiday to Morocco next March.

The few other places in the city to attract the attention of keen sales hunters were JD Sports and Lush.

The Cork city branch of the cosmetics chain — which shut all its UK and Irish branches for a day in September in solidarity with people starving in Gaza — was packed with customers from the moment it opened its doors.

Fergal, Freya and Shawna Shine brave the early start as they line up outside Brown Thomas.

Its website was also very busy, as visitors to lush.com were greeted with a message — from the Cloudflare security platform that protects online stores from attacks by hackers — about having to wait up to nine minutes to access it due to the high volume of visitors.

JD Sports was also busy, so much so most of the 1,000 or so shoppers milling around Cork’s city centre either had one of its bags, a Brown Thomas bag or a Lush bag.

Sporting a Saville bag with his new jeans and a jacket was Midleton butcher Tom Kelly, who has been shopping in the Oliver Plunkett Street store for decades.

With him was his partner Celia Lydon, who works at Silverwood Jewellery on the same street.

The couple, who live in Killeagh, East Cork, come to the city every St Stephen’s Day for the sales.

“St Stephen’s Day is our day off, and like a lot of people from the country, it’s always a thing to come up to the city for the day,” Celia said.

Friends Marion Leblanc, Claire Mackey, Sinéad Crotty and Ciara Daly queue outside Brown Thomas on St Patrick's Street.

Although Tom, who works at Murphy’s Butchers in Midleton, got a bargain on what he bought, Celia wasn’t too sure about the Gucci Guilt fragrance she bought in Brown Thomas.

She didn’t seem to mind as she always buys it, and this year, she had money from her birthday in November and from Christmas to get another bottle.

Shoppers weren’t all there to check out the latest bargain​s.

Brothers Louis and Bobby Khan were there to swap gifts they had received.

In Louis’s case, he was there to swap a jacket he had received from his parents for Christmas, and Louis — who was at the front of the queue to get into Brown Thomas — picked up a pair of shoes which had a €30 discount.

Industry body Retail Excellence Ireland said reports from retailers on Christmas trade had been mixed.

Chief executive Jean McCabe said: “December started slow with the impact of the weather and weather warnings.

“Trade certainly finished strong for the week leading into Christmas, with Monday to Wednesday this week being particularly strong.

“Growth has been mixed across the categories, some reporting single-digit growth, others flat to being slightly behind year on year.

“Reports say that footfall across the country was sluggish. Online trading — well across the board — has shown growth for most retailers."

Brown Thomas Cork general manager Miriam Flavin said: "Yes, it is more civilised these days, but with around 200 people queuing to get in when we open, it shows the magic is still there.

"It's our busiest time of the year and people still want to get a good bargain, and soak up the atmosphere.

"The footfall has been really fantastic, and the energy was fantastic."