Shoppers in England some ‘normality’ but
CUSTOMERS turned out in force yesterday as England’s retail parks, high streets and shopping centres reopened after a three-month shutdown, with footfall rising by almost half on last week.
The scenes unfolded as shoppers and retailers on this side of the border await news on whether or not nonessential shops will reopen under the next lockdown restrictions review, to be announced by the Welsh Government this week.
Images from high streets, towns and cities on both sides of the border stood in marked contrast yesterday as both countries took markedly different courses on the issue.
Lengthy queues of often-masked shoppers formed, many well before opening times, across England’s major cities as people stepped out to bag a bargain or browse the rails for the first time since lockdown.
Shoppers have been encouraged to be sensible and adhere to new hygiene measures and social distancing, with a government minister saying they are beginning to reopen the economy “gradually and carefully”.
While shoppers generally appeared to be keeping to the two-metre distancing rule as they queued, there were images of a tightly packed crowd outside the Nike Town store in London’s Oxford Street.
One customer described it as being “a little bit crowded”, but said staff “did all they could to put the measures in place and keep it under control”.
Long queues were seen at Primark stores across England, with dozens of keen shoppers waiting outside branches in Birmingham, Derby, Liverpool and Nottingham.
Despite the large queues, results of YouGov polling carried out earlier this month suggested that just 40% of people were comfortable to go back into clothes shops, and only 48% think that they would be able to stay the required two metres away from other shoppers.
Some 41% of people said they believe it is about the right time for the shops to reopen, but 39% said it was too soon.
Oliver Rowe, director of reputation research at YouGov – which carried out four surveys between June 2 and 11 on between 1,700 and 4,000 people, said the results show “there is a lot of work to be done yet to convince shoppers that it’s business as usual”.
Figures released yesterday afternoon showed that the morning’s footfall was up by almost half on last week.
Total retail footfall across high streets, shopping centres and retail parks in England up until noon increased by 41.7% in comparison to last week, the latest data from retail experts Springboard indicated.
Footfall across all retail destinations in England is around a third less than on the same day last year, the organisation said.
Shoppers described returning to stores as “a delight” and a “wonderful freedom”.
People heading into the Apple store in Regent Street in central London had their temperatures checked and were told they must wear face coverings when inside.
Small Business Minister Paul Scully insisted it is safe to shop, noting the new looks many stores will have as they attempt to ensure social distancing and good hygiene among staff and