PENNEYS HAS been closed for close to three months now, and after hairdressers and the pub, it's arguably one of the businesses that the Irish public have missed the most.
As Ireland entered Phase 2 of the reopening of the economy on Monday, shops across the country reopened their doors to the public-- except for Penneys.
The Irish retail giant, expecting massive crowds, had decided to delay their reopening for a few days in order to properly protect staff and customers by implementing social distancing measures, hand sanitiser and Perpex screens.
Which is just as well.
Have been standing at the exit for #Penneys on Parnell Street to talk to customers and only one (male) customer has actually left since they opened the doors at 8.30! @TodayRadioRTE Queuing since 4am here. pic.twitter.com/XFi9ZYWggL
— Evelyn O'Rourke (@evelyn_orourke) June 12, 2020
Images emerging this morning shows absolutely massive queues forming outside Penneys stores in cities across Ireland, with hundreds, if not thousands of people eagerly waiting for their chance to get inside and break the bank-- as much as you can in a Penneys, anyhow.
Queue for #Penneys #Cork at 9.15am pic.twitter.com/fKX2XsPTG0
— Fiona Corcoran (@fiona96fmnews) June 12, 2020
In Cork, the queue snaked all the way from the store's front door on Patrick Street to the bottom of Cook Street, with some happy shoppers telling local 96 FM journalist that they had been holding their spot in the queue since 3am.
This is the end of the queue for Penneys . It's on Cook street facing Oliver Plunket Street for entry on the front door on Patrick street. @NeilRedFM pic.twitter.com/jo9abUrlTZ
— John Grace’s Fried Chicken (@gracesfriedchic) June 12, 2020
Limerick Senator Paul Gavan snapped a photo of the queues forming outside Limerick city's Penneys store, and to those not in the know it might look like the queue is normal enough, just on one street.
But that's the back door to the shop. This queue goes at least around the whole building.
This is the queue outside of #penneys this morning in #Limerick pic.twitter.com/yC9c1BuYCw
— Senator Paul Gavan (@paul_gavan) June 12, 2020
The stores had been set to open at 10.30am but the sheer size of the crowd outside led management to open some stores early for safety reasons.
Last night, photographs of tents parked outside a Penneys store went viral, with the caption claiming that people were sleeping outside overnight to ensure they were first in the queue, but it was proven to be a photoshop job.
People will be waiting quite a while to get in, but as long as everybody stays safe and adheres to social distancing measures in the store-- then happy shopping!
