Brown Thomas opens its flagship store on Grafton Street in Dublin city centre today Wednesday with their regional stores in Cork, Limerick and Galway reopening tomorrow Thursday. As part of a string of new Covid-19 measures, shoppers will also be able to pre-book visits into the stores through their websites. Walk-in visits will be facilitated by a queuing system. 'Virtual' queuing will also be put in place where customers join a queue virtually before receiving a text message when they are top of the virtual queue and can enter the store. To ensure customers can receive the best beauty expert guidance in store, new larger consultation areas have been created to allow for social distancing. Best practice standards for cosmetic hygiene will also be implemented where a ‘no touch’ policy will be in place on beauty products with testers available to view only.

There will also be technology introduced that allows customers to virtually try on make-up. Both stores will have digital screens to allow customers virtually assess how make-up appears on their skin. There will also be a free same-day home delivery service for customers who buy some larger items, to avoid them bringing them on to public transport and potentially into contact with the wider public. There will be a new click & collect area in the Brown Thomas Dublin car park so customers can remain in their car to collect their purchases. Garments in the store will be steamed daily and customers can continue to enjoy the use of fitting rooms. Clothes will then be steamed and sanitised after a customer tries something on.

Virtual personal shopping via Zoom or video calls will also be available as well as personal shoppers visiting homes directly and new technology that allows customers to virtually interact with sales teams. Customers will be able to book a shopping appointment online to come into the store for a one-to-one appointment with the personal shopping team.