Brown Thomas Arnotts claimed Dublin traffic plan would cost retailers millions but sales up 5% in December with “electric” atmosphere

— “Everywhere was jammed, it was one of the busiest Christmas Eves we’ve had,” says the retail boss who runs Brown Thomas and Arnotts department stores.

Brown Thomas Arnotts managing director, Donald McDonald, predicted doom for retailers once the Dublin City Centre Transport Plan was implemented, but the rollout of the first part of the plan was followed by a 5% in-store increase in sales in December.

Brown Thomas Arnotts has a track record of opposing traffic plans prioritising sustainable transport. This is hardly the first time that their predictions have been wrong, but Brown Thomas Arnotts has been listed as a member of the Dublin City Centre Traders Alliance lobby group, which is taking a court case against the plan.

As part of the judicial review, the Traders Alliance commissioned a now much-derided report which claimed a decrease in retail spending of €141m by 2028 and a loss of over 6,000 jobs. While academics, campaigners and officials disputed the finding of the report by PMCA Economic Consulting, the sales increases outlined by Brown Thomas Arnotts provide a real-world example.

In July, ahead of the bus gates being implemented on the quays at O’Connell Bridge, the Business Post quoted from a statement provided by McDonald.

McDonald claimed: “In its current form, the Dublin City Transport Plan is flawed and runs the risk of inflicting irreparable damage to city centre trade, it will reduce future investment in the city and will ultimately lead to the closure of some businesses and the loss of thousands of jobs.”

He added: “The transport plan actively discourages people from shopping in the city, particularly those from the suburbs, and has little or no consideration for the many people who have a reliance on a car.”

But on Sunday, the Business Post reported McDonald outlining Brown Thomas Arnotts’s position that, after the bus gates were implemented on the quays, that the atmosphere in Dublin City Centre over Christmas was “electric,” and the company’s store sales were up 5% on last year.

“We had a very, very strong Christmas, so we’re very pleased with it,” McDonald told the newspaper.

In a reference to the aftermath of the Dublin riot last year, he said: “Right across the board, every one of our stores were up on last year. And particularly Dublin city centre, which last year had its problems, traded very well.”

According to the Business Post, McDonald added: “You could certainly see that around Dublin City Centre on Christmas Eve — everywhere was jammed, it was one of the busiest Christmas Eves we’ve had. People have come to realise that it is the place to be… the atmosphere was electric.”

The Dublin City Centre Traders Alliance’s only apparent activity has been objecting to bus priority measures, cycle lanes, and traffic-free streets. After several years of activity, it made a lobbying declaration in September 2024, which can be found at Lobbying.ie. Previous attempts by IrishCycle.com to contact the group, including asking why its name did not appear on the Lobbying Register, went unanswered.

4 thoughts on “Brown Thomas Arnotts claimed Dublin traffic plan would cost retailers millions but sales up 5% in December with “electric” atmosphere”

  1. Not really a 180 since they don’t seem to mention the traffic plan or admit their mistake* in their “yay us” announcement.

    * I say mistake but I really mean lies.

    Reply

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