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Penneys will re-open its stores in Ireland on Tuesday, 1st December with extended trading hours in all stores, to cater for the anticipated higher customer demand ahead of the festive season and to help safely reduce queues by spreading shopping hours over a longer period of time.

Penneys stores located in city centres and in major shopping centres will trade until 10.00pm on weekdays, and stores on main streets in towns across Ireland and in town shopping centres will trade until 9.00pm on weekdays. Penneys stores in Dundrum Town Centre and Blanchardstown Centre will open at 7.00am on Tuesday, 1st December and trade right through to closing time on Wednesday, 2nd December.

Nothing matters more to Penneys than the safety and wellbeing of its employees and customers and in line with government guidance, all stores continue to have extensive safety measures in place. This includes strict social distancing protocols, limits on the number of customers allowed in store, hand sanitisation stations on entry, Perspex screens or cubicles at tills, the use of face masks in-store and increased in-store cleaning.

Penneys CEO, Paul Marchant, said: 

We are delighted to re-open our stores in Ireland on 1st December with longer shopping hours to give our customers more time to safely do their festive shopping. We have everything this season that our customers expect from Penneys, including our famous Christmas jumpers, festive pyjamas and much, much more. All of our extensive safety measures remain in place to help ensure shopping at Penneys is an enjoyable, safe experience for everyone.

Throughout December, Penneys stores will trade to a minimum of 9.00pm on weekdays: 

  • Town Centre (main streets) stores will trade until 9pm:
    • Stores: Dun Laoghaire, Wexford, Sligo, Drogheda, Newbridge, Clonmel, Ballina, Killarney.
  • Town Shopping Centre stores will trade until 9pm:
    • Stores: Navan, Mullingar, Portlaoise, Ennis, Letterkenny, Galway Shopping Centre, Kilkenny, Santry, Artane, Tralee, Castlebar, Longford, Athlone, Dundalk, Carlow
    • Until 9.30pm: Limerick-Dooradoyle.
  • Major Shopping Centres will trade until 10pm:
    • Stores: Galway-Eyre Square, Swords, Cork – Wilton, Dundrum, Blanchardstown, Liffey Valley, Nutgrove.
  • City-Centre Stores, the majority will trade until 10pm:
    • Stores: Dublin – Mary Street, Limerick – O’Connell Street, Waterford, Cork – Patrick Street, Dublin – O’Connell Street.

24-hour trading: Penneys will open in Dundrum Town Centre and Blanchardstown Centre from 7.00am on Wednesday, 2nd December and trade right through until closing time on Thursday, 3rd December.

Penneys safety measures across all stores:

We have implemented a strict social distancing protocol across all our stores:

  • We are following local government guidelines and limiting the number of customers allowed in store at any one time to allow for the appropriate distance between customers and employees.
  • Clear signage and floor decals, as well as dedicated employees and security staff, to guide customers through the store in a way that limits contact with others.
  • We have redesigned the layout of our stores to allow for more space between people by reconfiguring our queuing system at our till points to allow for social distancing. Dedicated employees will be on hand when needed to manage the correct flow of the queue.
  • Entry and exit points will be clearly marked.

·   Frequent tannoy announcements are made in store reminding customers to adhere to social distancing measures.

We have increased personal protection for employees and customers:

  • In line with government guidance, all customers are required to wear face coverings in our stores, unless they are exempt due to medical reasons.
  • On entering the store, customers are asked to use the hand sanitiser that is provided at the store entrance. Dedicated employees will be on hand to assist customers if needed.
  • We provide face masks to all of our employees and they are required to be worn while working.
  • Perspex screens or cubicles have been installed on tills to help protect customers and employees.
  • We are encouraging card payments and contactless payments when possible to minimise cash interactions.
  • We have appointed dedicated employees to manage entrances to stores and throughout the store, when required, to ensure social distancing measures are being followed.
  • Dedicated employees will make sure hand hygiene stations are topped up and report any issues or concerns to the store manager.

We have increased the frequency and intensity of in-store cleaning:

  • We have invested significantly in increasing the frequency and rigor of our store cleaning policy across all our markets, giving particular attention to high frequency touchpoints such as tills, escalators, lifts, and employee areas in back of house.
  • We have introduced a basket cleaning system, so each basket handle is cleaned before use.

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