THE NUMBER of shoppers on Dublin's streets is almost back to Celtic Tiger levels, thanks to unseasonal sales and the early arrival of the Christmas shopping season, business interests have claimed.
Footfall in the main shopping areas of the capital is within 1 per cent of the previous three years, according to the Dublin City Business Association.
"We don't know yet whether shoppers are spending as much as in previous years but it certainly means that we're back on track with the three best years of the Celtic Tiger," said city business association chief executive Tom Coffey.
Unusually this year, the sales season is in full swing at the end of November, just as the Christmas shopping season is getting under way.
Consumers on the lookout for early Christmas presents have been able to choose between a plethora of sales in shops and department stores.
Arnotts has knocked 20 per cent off the price of "almost everything" while Debenhams ran a 25 per cent off sale up to yesterday. Clerys and Marks & Spencer have also been offering extensive discounts in their stores.
Mr Coffey said the phenomenon of pre-Christmas sales was not new, particularly since the American trend towards year-round discounting caught on here over recent years.
However, he admitted this year's sales were more "impactful" than before.
"It used to be that a store might knock 5 per cent off goods, or invited store card-holders in to avail of a discount," he said.
"Now, however, it has to be a big discount and it has to be for everyone."
He denied that the uplift in sales was due to an earlier start to the season of up to three weeks.
The Christmas lights on Grafton Street went up just three days early this year and those on Henry Street eight days early, Mr Coffey pointed out.
"We're optimistic for this season. There won't be a boom or the double-digit growth we got in previous years, but the intention is to make a profit."
The arrival of leading fashion brand Tommy Hilfiger to Grafton Street and the opening of a new retail development on South King Street has also helped to inject new life into the capital's retail offering.