The new Dundrum Town Centre was awash with shoppers and retail activity on Saturday while Grafton Street reported fewer shoppers than usual, write Christine Madden and Fiona Tyrell

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Passengers on an aircraft over south Dublin on Saturday might have thought, seeing a busy anthill during their descent toward the airport, that they were closer to the ground than they should be. But only if they weren't aware of the fanfare of Dundrum Town Centre's opening weekend.

The structure resembled a three-storey anthill, avid consumers milling around on that magical shopping Saturday before Mother's Day.

"Pandemonium. Pandemonium," gasped one dazed shopper to a passer-by on the corner outside the centre. "It's like Christmas Eve."

Most of them carried big bunches of hothouse flowers for Mother's Day and, if you found a little something for yourself at the same time, all the better.

Toting shopping bags like carry-on bags, many of the people whose curiosity brought them to the opening weekend of Dublin's new consumer cathedral felt an affinity with the passengers on the airliner. "It's a little bit like an airport," as Annemarie Hogan, Goatstown resident, described it. "It has that kind of feel about it."

Bill Maxwell, who had driven over from Mount Merrion, agreed. "It's almost like being in an international airport. There's so much noise - from the loudspeakers and all the people."

He, his wife Marie and daughter Dorothy from Blackrock, were having a calming coffee at Butler's to "recover from the shock", as Marie put it. "People are still trying to get their bearings," said Bill. "It took quite a length of time to get through the car-park. But once people get the hang of it, it should be OK."

Dorothy, however, was enthused. "I'll definitely come back. But I'll try to do a weekday morning. There is a huge variety of stores, so you don't need to go to town anymore."

A group of teenage friends expressed equal delight. "Now this is going to be like our new town," Nicola Kelly from Stillorgan gushed. "It has all the shops we need - cool shops." "And it's indoors," her companion Bláthnaid Ní Nuallain from Kilternan added. "So you don't have to worry about the rain," Kelly finished. Their friends Sophie Tiernan and Kim Johnston, also from Stillorgan, had already made purchases: accessories from Hennes and Mauritz and a digital camera.

Julianne Stevens, visiting from Kildare, had come with her friend Annemarie Hogan out of curiosity. She liked the light in the building; Hogan was pleased with the air conditioning. Hogan's daughter Robyn Kelly, however, unequivocally stated that what had brought her to the centre was: "Shops. Not light. Not architecture." But despite her interest in the centre, she said she would still go to town to shop. "I like being outside." Hogan also preferred the atmosphere of Grafton Street, and lamented the absence of good book shops, as well as venues more attractive to men, such as music shops. "I don't do the grocery shopping," she explained, "and the centre needs more of those shops to attract a man who does the grocery shopping," so that he would go to the 24-hour Tesco or Marks and Spencer.

In confirmation, three lads whose curiosity had got the better of them voiced their disappointment. Gary Murtagh from Walkinstown had come "to check it out and see what all the fuss was about - I'm still trying to figure it out". Similarly unimpressed, his friend Dave Gunning from Tallaght described the emporium as "a shopping centre for people who like shopping. It's mainly designed for women - there are lots of clothes shops." They all lamented the lack of games and music shops, and that there wasn't anywhere to get a pint. "I'm not attracted by the shops, and the queues are huge," complained Rob Farrell from Drumlin. "I heard there was a music shop, but I haven't seen it. It's definitely not a leisure experience."

Irish-speaker Eilín Bhradaigh of Dundrum was reluctant to speak in English, but did overcome her distaste to say: "It has destroyed my village." She, too, was unimpressed by the shops. Asked if she would come here to do her shopping, Bhradaigh said: "Not at all."

Proprietors, however, were giddy with the turnout and managing to cope with the excitement. "It's great, very busy," said Therese McDonnell, sales adviser at House of Frasier. "People are mainly browsing, but also buying things for Mother's Day. It's the first House of Frasier in Ireland, so there are brands we've never had here before. Everybody seems very impressed."

Maintaining an impressive degree of calm despite the long queues at the M&S food checkout, sales adviser John Crowley said he was coping "very well" at the till, despite Saturday being "the busiest day so far. There have been a few technical glitches, but there are good employers here."

Vanessa Kilbride, the manager of H&M, said: "It's going fantastic. The queues haven't stopped, everybody's happy, everybody's going mad. We're managing the volume; we've had regular deliveries and lots of support from the UK."

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Having braced themselves for the worst, traders on Grafton Street were happy to report that they experienced a noticeable, but not a significant, drop in business last Saturday.

The pull of Dundrum Town Centre proved to be not as big as feared, according to many Grafton Street traders, who reported a quite morning with business picking up in the afternoon.

"Busy enough considering . . ." was the response from most Grafton Street traders, many of whom had expected the new Dundrum Town Centre to have a bigger impact on business on Saturday.

The city centre will always have an attraction for shoppers at the weekend, many traders argued.

The give-away H & M bags being clutched by many mid-afternoon shoppers indicated that die-hard shoppers opted to do a quick run around Grafton Street after the short 20-minute Luas trip from Dundrum.

The change in tempo was a welcome relief for other shoppers who enjoyed a quieter and more leisurely shopping experience in the city centre.

The glamour of Dundrum Town Centre proved to be of no interest to black-clad teenagers milling around the entrance of the St Stephen's Green Centre.

Manager of Alan Shoes in the centre Brian O'Mahoney, jnr, said that both their St Stephen's Green and Dún Laoghaire branches had experienced a "fairly busy" day.

"The first half of the day was quiet enough but it picked up in the afternoon," he said.

Having expected the worst he said he was "quite happy with how the day went in the end".

The lure of Dundrum was more marked in Miss Selfridge, which is usually reaching critical mass by Saturday afternoon. Last Saturday at 4.30pm there was a handfull of young women browsing leisurely.

Although trade was down on Saturday, mid-week business was not affected, according to manager Catherine McKeegan.

Across the road in Monsoon, assistant manager Sarah Bradish said the shop was busier that expected. However, given that the operator's massive outlet in Dundrum Town Centre will not open until next Saturday, it was too early to tell whether the new shopping centre would pull shoppers away from the town centre, she added.

Late afternoon in Brown Thomas seemed to be less hectic than usual, according to Brown Thomas general manager Maeve Wall; business at BT was "brisk" over the weekend with no discernable impact since the opening of the Dundrum Town Centre.

Alison Maxim manager in Pamela Scott reported that the new shopping centre had a marked impact on footfall on Thursday and Friday, but business on Saturday was "steady enough".

Many shoppers were opting to do both Dundrum and Grafton Street, she added.

Meanwhile, across the river on Henry Street, business for Zara was slightly down on the same day last year.

"We had expected it to be drastic but it hasn't been too bad. We still had a lot of footfall. I think the bright day saved us," manager Joe McGarry said.

Business in Roches was up on the same day last year.