Hitting the high street
As restrictions are lifted, queues form at 4am to allow a surge of pent-up demand for retail therapy
IT WAS the day that, it seems, all of England had been waiting for: the chance after 12 long weeks of lockdown for shoppers to return to Primark and buy their underwear.
Shoppers made their way back to the high street yesterday, queuing to buy previously non-essential items such as clothes, shoes, books and computers.
The owner of some of Britain’s biggest shopping centres – Intu, which includes Lakeside in Essex and the Trafford Centre in Manchester – reported footfall had more than trebled, rising by 218 per cent compared with a week ago.
But in a stark warning, the organisation representing independent shops warned that one in 10 of its members would go bust despite yesterday’s spike, not least due to social distancing rules that made it uneconomical to reopen.
An analysis by the BBC suggested 1,105 stores owned by 13 retail chains will never reopen after closing in March.
Figures from retail analysts Springboard showed high street footfall up 51.7 per cent on last Monday but down 41.2 per cent on the same day last year.
Diane Wehrle, from Springboard, said: “Footfall has risen by more than we anticipated, but it was certainly helped by the weather which made queuing a more pleasurable experience.”
Jace Tyrrell, chief executive at New West End Company, which represents 600 businesses in central London, said: “While the safety of our colleagues and customers is of paramount importance, we would urge the Government to review social distancing measures, reducing from two metres to one metre. It makes the difference between loss and break even.”
Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of the British Independent Retailers Association,
said onlookers should not be fooled by the long queues, adding: “It’s too early to tell how well things have gone. I think we all expected the big brands to get some benefit. Despite what you will see this week, which will be buoyant, tough times are still coming.”
He said as many as one in 10 independent business owners feel they may never reopen.
Analysis of footfall data from other European countries that had already came out of strict lockdown showed that after a spike on the first day, the number of shoppers fell.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), a trade body, said: “Once the initial surge of pent-up demand for goods has passed, many retailers are likely to suffer from lower spending and footfall, as seen in other European countries.” The BRC is calling for a reduction on VAT.
Figures from Transport for London (TFL) showed there were roughly 23,000 more Tube journeys by 10am than last Monday, although this was still only 15 per cent of the journeys on the same day last year.
Primark, which famously does not have an online presence and was losing £650million in sales a month in lockdown, was particularly frenetic, but other major retailers saw brisk business. John Lewis opened just two of its smaller department stores – one in Kingston-upon-thames and the other in Poole in Dorset – while Apple introduced its own temperature checks and made mask-wearing mandatory at its high street outlets.
Nike’s flagship store in Oxford Street, central London became overwhelmed and managers were forced to open its doors early to alleviate a stampede. Photographs and video footage showed young customers (most of them male) jostling outside. One shopper – a teenager who didn’t have any school to attend – explained that he could buy limited edition trainers there for £200, and sell them on ebay for £1,000.
“For me this is business, we buy and sell shoes,” said Ruben, 16 from north London, “All the guys that you see in the queue are here just to resell.”
In Birmingham, Primark’s largest store was forced to open early at 7.25am to make inroads into the sizeable queue. “I couldn’t believe it. I thought I’d be right at the front of the queue for sure,” said Sachin Sadh, 33, from Small Heath, Birmingham, who joined the line at 5.30am. “But one girl I was talking to had been here since 4am.”
At its Kingston-upon-thames branch, Stephanie Wells, 38, her sister Nicole, 35, and their daughters were applauded into the store by staff after queuing from 7.30am. “Underwear was the first stop – everybody in the queue said they were coming for knickers,” said Ms Wells. “We also bought T-shirts and stuff for the kids because they’re growing so quickly.”
At the nearby John Lewis, customers waited more than half an hour to get inside where two-metre social distance markers awaited them. John Lewis reported that buttons, British Fashion Council face-coverings, egg cups, china sets and baby sleepsuits were the top five sellers at its Kingston branch while towels, sofas, bed linen, televisions and printer cartridges were the most popular products at the Poole store.
Till points everywhere were fitted with Perspex “sneeze guards”, the contactless payment limit has been increased to £45 – and the lavatories were fully open in the store.
At Selfridges in Oxford Street, Mark, 48, said: “I’m such an old dinosaur I don’t know how to order things online. I’m really old-school I just like going in and trying them in person.”
Government guidance says items that have been tried on should be isolated for 72 hours or cleaned before being returned to the shop floor, and that changing rooms should remain closed.
Selfridges, which reopened its London, Manchester and Birmingham branches, gave shoppers the chance “to try before they buy”, but any clothes were then quarantined, while shoes and accessories were cleaned with sanitising spray or steamed.
Waterstones quarantined books which were browsed but not bought, while HMV insisted on hand sanitiser for customers flicking through records.
Arcadia – which owns the likes of Topshop, Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins – had originally said it would not take cash payments, but yesterday changed its position to say that while it will encourage the use of contactless, it will now accept cash.
In Sunderland, there were reports of a mile-long queue outside Sports Direct, which was encouraging shoppers with the offer of a 50 per cent discount for NHS staff.
London Zoo also reopened yesterday. Kathryn England, chief operating officer, said: “To be able to see [people] coming back with enormous smiles is a special moment.”