It's the moment businesses around Ireland have been waiting for as non-essential retail reopens for the first time in 2021.
After a week of appointment shopping, the doors of non-essential retail are properly swinging open today, meaning you can browse Penneys to your heart's content or try on that pair of shoes you picked out months ago.
While the vaccine rollout continues at pace, precautions are still necessary as society opens back up. Last summer, when retail reopened, Dublin City Council published a list of queuing guidelines which you can read
here before you hit the shops.
As well as that, the Government published their own advice to shoppers over the weekend which reads as follows:
- with our shops and shopping centres reopening, remember that you still have to wear a face covering when shopping, even if you’ve been fully vaccinated
- when planning your shopping trip, please support your local retailers and businesses
- if you feel unwell you should stay at home
- if you do go out shopping, dress appropriately as you may have to queue outside
- try to shop at off-peak times and keep a 2 metre distance from other shoppers and staff
- try to keep your shopping time to a minimum and remember to use hand sanitiser when entering and leaving the shop
- remember - you can still shop online or over the phone and collect your goods or have them delivered
The most important thing is to keep yourself and others safe by following public health guidelines and if you can support struggling businesses then all the better. Now, where's that credit card?
