The winter sales have proved brisker than expected for the high street, with consumer spend up an estimated 3 per cent on last year, according to Dublin Chamber of Commerce.
Strong demand for household goods and furniture offset a slump in purchases of clothes and music, pushing sales for Christmas and the New Year towards €3.5 billion in the capital, the chamber said.
Fears that the closure of DART lines after Christmas would harm city centre traders were not borne out, said Mr Cian Connaughton, chamber spokesman.
"There was some anxiety among traders that the DART closure would have a negative effect and many began their sales early as a result," he said. "But the impact of the shutdown seems to have been exaggerated."
Many British clothes retailers suffered a disastrous December, with some stores reporting a 30 per cent drop in sales despite heavy - and in certain instances, unprecedented - pre-Christmas discounting, said Mr Tom Coffey, chief executive of Dublin City Business Association.
The arrival of Spanish fashion chain Zara had dealt a blow to some British-based clothes stores, which were unable to compete on price because their supply chain straddled the euro and sterling, he said. "Some fashion stores have been charging too high and this year they found they could no longer get away with it," he added.
Internet sales are also hurting the high street, with record stores reporting a 20 per cent decline in sales of CDs and DVDs as a result, said Mr Coffey.
Arnotts, which began its winter sale a day earlier than usual on December 27th , said furniture and fixtures had performed strongly.
Buoyant sales in Dublin were a surprise, as retail revenue in the final quarter of 2004 was soft, with weak consumer sentiment showing little sign of recovery.
The success of Operation Freeflow, the Garda initiative to reduce gridlock in Dublin, contributed towards the healthy results said Mr Coffey. "Traffic was relatively free," he said. "There was a record number of traffic spaces in the city centre and this has had an impact."
Retail sales are predicted to have increased around 2.2 per cent in 2003, though it will be several weeks before official figures are available.
