Exclusive: First look at the big changes in your favourite stores

OH, HOW I have missed browsing. Looking at clothes online is OK, but nothing beats the thrill of being in a real shop, casting your eye around like the hunter-gatherers we all are deep down, looking for the best berries on the savannah. Or in my case, a summer dress and a pair of khaki shorts.

So, with clothes shops set to reopen on June 15, I asked for a sneak peek at the new normal. Would one-way systems make browsing impossible? Would I be allowed to feel the fabric to test quality? Would there be any shorts big enough to accommodate my lockdown waistline?

At Marks & Spencer in Gillingham, Kent, I was offered an exclusive look at the changes. The store has kept its food hall open and offered a few basic clothing items during lockdown, but its whole upper floor has been shuttered for the duration. Now, it is being transformed into a safe place to shop post-corona.

I walk past a woman in a plastic visor and feast my eyes on rails of clothes. Summer togs are in evidence, and while some products are marked down by up to 70 per cent, M&S says there are no more sale items than usual for the time of year.

I’m glad. After being deprived of a favourite pastime for so long, I don’t want to be greeted by a sea of scruffy sale rails.

Arrows on the ground keep me walking in the right direction, with red -and-white tape lines at twometre intervals. But numbers will be limited by a new queuing system, M&S says, so there shouldn’t be any pile-ups.

All in all, it’s far less stressful than a supermarket shop. I always wear a mask for those missions, and while I started out with one on my clothes shop, I soon took it off. It didn’t seem necessary with so much space. Drawbacks? Well, changing rooms won’t be opening yet, and you will have to get used to shopping alone (unless you are assisting someone who needs help).

But there are moments — such as the joy of spotting some bright yellow pyjamas — when it feels like old times.

My arrival at the till offers a stark reminder of the new normal. There’s a thick window of Perspex between me and the assistant, who is also wearing a plastic visor — though I can just about tell she’s smiling through it.

Next, to get a sense of how independent shops will cope, I head for Fleurie Gallery, a boutique in Lewes, East Sussex.

Owner Victoria Johnson shifted everything online a week before the official lockdown because her customers had already stopped coming in.

Now she is preparing to re-open, and plans to solve the issue of queues in her small retail space by allowing just one customer in at a time, by prior appointment (via her Instagram account

@fleurie_lewes). She will be open from 6am till 10am only, then head home to home-school her two sons.

Spending time in the beautifully styled space was a reminder of how delicious the retail experience can be.

It’s proof there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to making the new rules work.

When Femail contacted them, stores offered a host of different solutions. At John Lewis, which provided exclusive photographs of its new signage, only a quarter of branches will open at first. Only certain entrances will be open, at which hosts will welcome shoppers.

Upmarket chain Reiss plans to reduce opening hours, allowing staff to travel safely at quiet times. Mango will offer customers sanitising gel and gloves.

At River Island, anything you try will be quarantined for 72 hours.

As for me, when June 15 rolls around, I will be making an appointment to be one of the first in Fleurie Gallery, and heading along to all my favourite High-Street spots. I really need new clothes after all — none of my old ones fit me.