Quieter streets, but not a ghost town like before
CITY CENTRE BUSIER THAN EXPECTED ON DAY ONE OF LOCKDOWN 2
HUNDREDS of people ventured into the city centre on the first day the country was put under a national lockdown.
Despite non-essential shops, and bars, pubs, restaurants, salons and gyms being forced to close, the city didn’t appear as deserted as it was in the first lockdown.
The Victoria Centre was busier than expected, with many customers using Tesco, Boots, or click and collect at places such as John Lewis, which had large boards stopping people from entering, and two people with masks sitting at the entrance taking order numbers.
The centre has taken out its seating, so people can’t gather. However, the Christmas tree is up, including decorations, with some Christmas songs playing over the sound system despite most shops being closed.
Clumber Street, which was packed with shoppers on Wednesday, was quiet, but there were still some people using Superdrug, Santander, HSBC and Mcdonalds.
In Hockley, it was deathly quiet with the shutters down on many of the small cafes. One of the only independent cafes to remain open was Cafe Flavour, also known as Hockley Deli.
Both wearing face visors, and with plenty of sandwiches on display, Jayne Saxton and Tracey Simcoe said they had been surprised how many people were in the city.
Jayne said: “It has not been bad actually. A lot of our customers were asking if we were staying open.
There are more people in town than there were during the last lockdown. We have had the regulars in and the builders nearby have come in to support us.”
Mick Garton, who owns six MSR Newsgroup newsagents across Nottingham, decided to remain open.
He said: “It is not as dead as the last lockdown. There are still people around. The likes of Greggs, Costa, Cafe Nero and Mcdonald’s staying open will help us and we will get some business from that.
“We will make a judgement call in the next few days if we keep the shops open or close. But it is nowhere near like the first lockdown when it was a ghost town.”
Staff at Greggs near Old Market Square said “it had been busier than expected” taking half of what they would usually expect.
They said bus drivers, school pupils and university students had kept them going. The same is true for Easybite, which is just a few doors down.
A staff member said: “If it was not for the bus drivers we would be very quiet. I think it will be very difficult for businesses.”
Meanwhile, the Savoy cinema, in Derby Road, had a poignant quote from the movie Back to the Future written on its billboard. It said: “Marty, you must not leave the house, anything you do could have serious repercussions on future events.”