BELFAST city centre has received a timely boost after a temporary walkway reconnecting Royal Avenue to Donegall Place opened today, allowing pedestrians to walk past the fire-damaged Primark building.
The area had been closed for more than three months after the fire that gutted the historic Bank Buildings.
New signage and maps across the city centre are in place, showing which businesses have reopened and highlighting those near the remaining cordon areas.
Fast-food giant McDonald's, jewellery store Argento and footwear chain Sketchers have all resumed trading today.
Spar will reopen tomorrow on a reduced hours basis and Primark, which begins trading again at Commonwealth House on Castle Street this Saturday, will open its doors on December 8.
The Zara, Tesco Metro and British Heart Fountain stores remain closed, while works continue to secure the Bank Buildings site.
The news follows a strong weekend of trading in the city centre as shoppers make their necessary preparations for Christmas.
Retail NI chief executive, Glyn Roberts hailed the development as a "major step forward" to restoring Belfast city centre to its former strength.
"With the Primark store opening in a few days time and all the other promotional work taking place I am confident that Belfast city centre will have very attractive retail proposition this Christmas," he said.
"All of the traders have been working extra hard this Christmas to ensure that we're creating a very attractive offer for Belfast city centre and I'm confident that will be the case. I think there is a realisation that we've gone through a difficult patch in many respects, but on a wider level it has been a catalyst for change. It has pushed the issue of town and city centre regeneration generally up the agenda and that can only be a good thing," Mr Roberts added.
Following the Primark fire at Bank Buildings on August 28, Belfast has suffered from a dramatic slump in retail footfall, with 14 businesses left unable to trade and some of the city's busiest streets left disconnected as a result.
Figures released last month showed a footfall decline of over 60 per cent in certain pockets of the city centre, with Asher's Bakery citing a lack of shoppers as a key factor in closing its Royal Avenue outlet in October.
