These were the massive queues outside Penneys on O'Connell Street this morning as eager shoppers scooped up the appointments at the retail giant which started at 7am on Monday.
Their surprise announcement on Friday that a booking portal had gone live sent the public into a frenzy with tens of thousands immediately trying to get their hands on the hour slots.
Just 24 hours later, bookings at its flagship store on O’Connell Street had sold out with eagle-eyed Dublin Live reader Noelle 'Sham' Jennings spotting some of the lucky shoppers lining up outside today.
Few stores in the capital’s suburbs and across the country still had appointments available on Sunday but majority of the shops had sold out on slots.
Penneys chief executive Paul Marchant said: “About 85% of appointments have been snapped up and the majority of our larger stores are fully booked now but there are still some available slots, particularly for our smaller stores.”
Other shoppers won’t have too much longer to wait as all 36 Penneys stores will fully reopen with extended hours from Monday, May 17.
Share your views on Ireland's reopening plan here or below:
A spokesperson for Penneys added: “We will have extended hours across every store initially to help reduce queues, spread demand and give customers more time to shop safely.”
The online booking system allowed appointments to be booked from 7am to 9pm.
Each appointment is valid for one person only and lasts 60 minutes, with 45 minutes for shopping time and 15 minutes for paying and leaving.
The announcement Penneys was allowing shopping by appointment set social media alight. A rush on the website caused some consternation online after long virtual queues formed, with some online claiming there was a five-hour wait to book.
Among the online responses was a claim that someone was selling their appointment for €100, but it was unclear whether this was genuine. Penneys confirmed they had not received any complaints of customers selling slots.
Penneys:
What will shopping there be like?
The company says safety remains their number one priority so employees and customers can return to stores with confidence, maintaining the high safety standards in place in stores over the past year.
Primark will have additional security and dedicated employee marshals on hand to help manage customer queues outside stores, as well as extensive safety measures in-store.
This includes a strict social distancing protocol, limits on the number of customers allowed in store, requiring the use of face coverings while in store, hand sanitisation stations at entrances, Perspex screens and cubicles at till points and increased in-store cleaning.
May 10 will see eight Level 5 lockdown changes easing in total in a bid to get the country back on the road to normaility.
Here's everything that's changing and easing today in what is a glorious day forward for Ireland:
- Inter-county travel returns
- Sports training for adults returns
- Hairdressers/barbers/beauticians are back
- Three households or six people can meet outdoors or in a back garden
- Click and collect shopping resumes
- Vaccinated households can meet with another household indoors
- Libraries, museums, and galleries are back
- 50 people allowed at funerals and wedding services, but only 6 can come to the afters of the wedding indoors, or 15 outdoors
And here's are all the other rule changes that you need to know for May and June:
On May 17:
- The mass reopening of non-essential retail
On June 2:
- Hotels will be allowed to reopen, with the bonus for guests able to eat meals like their breakfast inside
On June 7:
- All pubs and restaurants allowed to open again to serve, but only outdoors initially
- Gyms and swimming pools will reopen
- Any household can visit one other
- Amateur sports matches are back on
- Guests at wedding receptions up to 25
- Cinemas and theatres to reopen
