Dundrum Town Centre in Dublin will reopen on Monday, one of the shopping centre’s co-owners confirmed. The move is in line with Government guidance.
Hammerson, which co-owns the centre with Allianz, said that its other flagship locations including the Ilac Centre and the Swords Pavilions in Dublin will also reopen on Monday 15th.
The company said it will issue guidance on dedicated shopping hours for the over-70s and those who are medically vulnerable in the coming days. It also encouraged shoppers to check its websites for specific brands to ensure that they, too, are reopening.
Some stores within the Dundrum and other centres remained open during the lockdown, such as grocery retailers Tesco and Marks & Spencer. Penneys, meanwhile, said it will reopen in Dundrum from 10.30am on Monday while BT2 said it too would open both its Dundrum and Blanchardstown outlets from Monday. Other large fashion retailers such as House of Fraser, Zara and H&M did not respond when asked whether their Dundrum outlets would reopen on Monday.
A spokesman for Hammerson said that “not all stores will be able to open initially, but this will change”. It did not provide further details.
The shopping centre owner has introduced several measures to ensure the safety of its shoppers, it said. These include one-way systems, clear signage, social distancing guidance, encouragement to wear face coverings, enhanced cleaning processes and live monitoring of footfall to ensure that there aren’t too many people in the facilities at any one time.
‘Considered carefully’
"We have considered carefully how to create an operating environment that allows the centre and brands to reopen safely," said Mark Bourgeois, managing director UK & Ireland at Hammerson.
“Throughout our destinations we will display clear information for consumers on how to shop in this new environment, and we will also be monitoring visitor numbers, to ensure there are never too many people in our spaces at any one time.
“We ask that people be patient with us though, as the way we shop is going to be different for a while and visits might take longer than usual.”
