“THEY GO straight for the bags first, and then the shoes and they know exactly what they want,” said managing director of Brown Thomas Stephen Sealey while surveying the crowds thronging the department store.
Breaking with tradition by opening on St Stephen’s Day, as Arnotts and Clerys have also done, proved “substantially better”, he said, with queues forming from 7.30am for the 50 per cent discounts in the Grafton Street store which opened at 10am.
Mr Sealey estimated footfall figures for the day at some 50,000 people, more than double the usual number for the first day of their sale.
“We let them into Gucci and Prada in batches, so it was one in, one out. We have taken deeper discounts because I want to be out of sale earlier,” he said.
Will they do it again next year? “No question. Customers are clearly voting that they want it.”
Elsewhere in the store, there were significant bargains, pointed out by fashion director Shelly Corkery. A brown Prada coat was reduced to €650 from €1,500, another in bouclé also by Prada was marked down to €850 from €1,950. The jacket of the season by Balmain – which set the trend for the squared-off shoulder – was reduced from €2,050 to €920, but only small sizes remained. “There is very little left of Chloé, Lanvin or Givenchy and Juicy Couture has completely sold out,” she said.
Queues also formed for the 10am opening in Dundrum at House of Fraser, also on St Stephen’s Day.
There was a rush for Mulberry bags, reduced by 40 per cent, according to deputy manager Eleanor Lennox. “It was better than we had thought and it shows us that customers want to be here. We will certainly do it again next year,” she said.
Harvey Nichols – which started its sale yesterday – was, however, quiet at midday and those trying on shoes by Jimmy Choo found them marked down by 30 per cent with Dolce Gabbana and Sergio Rossi reduced by 40 per cent. In womenswear, clusters of customers focused their attention on the two 70 per cent reduction rails (See by Chloé, DKNY and Armani) rather than those at 30 per or 40 per cent.
Most of the higher-end boutiques start their sales tomorrow. Menswear retailer Michael Barrie’s novel approach to his sale in his South Anne Street shop involves a “suit scrappage scheme” in which old suits are traded in for new. It follows on his “clothing down” sale in June.
Elsewhere in Dublin, Havana boutique in Donnybrook, which started its sale yesterday, offered bargains from high-end designers like John Rocha (a black double-breasted wool coat at €424, down from €1,050) and a leather jacket by Rick Owen was reduced by €1,000 to €664.
“We had six months’ warning for this season,” said owner Nikki Creedon, “so everybody cut down on the buying significantly. But I’ve never seen so many people coming out late and buying at the last minute.”