Penneys in the northwest was open from 7am on Tuesday morning to welcome back shoppers as coronavirus restrictions were eased.
Letterkenny Shopping Centre was crammed with people carrying brown bags as the pre-festive season splurge began.
Centre manager Brian McCracken said it was good to welcome back familiar faces.
“We are delighted to see the faces back again,” he said.
“It is not all about money, it is a social event for people coming out. It is great to see them back.”
For many at the centre, online shopping did not make up for the experience of touching and seeing wares.
Diane McGowan, in her 40s, a mother-of-four from Letterkenny, said she knew what she was buying at a physical shop.
She sat outside the centre waiting for a taxi with two young children and Penneys bags with €500 of goods beside her.
“It is like Christmas but it is not,” she said.
“It has been very stressful, especially with all the shops being closed.”
And we are #OPEN #letterkenny is back trading #HasToBeLetterkenny #Donegal pic.twitter.com/wwdyEUZBUw
— Letterkenny Chamber #advancingbusinesstogether (@lkchamber) December 1, 2020
She said she worried about repeated lockdowns, adding: “I am just trying to get everything done before this lockdown happens again but I am happy that they are open today.”
Her children Matthew, three, and Luke, two, played outside the shopping centre beside her.
Lina Elhambouth, from Letterkenny, said she had gone out for essential clothes.
“It has been very difficult. It was not so good online, I have a child and the size changes.
“This feels good, there was no life before this.”
Best wishes to the many retail businesses reopening their doors across Donegal today. Let’s continue to support them all as much as we can. #BuyDonegal this Christmas pic.twitter.com/3Hrjwo6xJ6
— Donegal.ie (@Donegal_ie) December 1, 2020
Jimmy Stafford, president of Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce, urged people to take personal responsibility and wear a mask.
He added there was an air of excitement and retailers had worked late getting shops ready for reopening.
Invest Donegal said: “Best wishes to the many retail businesses reopening their doors across Donegal today.
“Let’s continue to support them all as much as we can.”
