Shops could thrive in post-virus world
IT is rare indeed that I am almost done with the Christmas shopping before December has even come along, but this is clearly no normal year.
Usually, I am still gathering ideas from relatives and loved ones by the time the first doors on the advent calendar are opened.
It never felt right to head into the city centre before the Christmas lights were on and you had already heard Slade for the fifth time.
There’s none of that this year – though I expect I will still hear Slade more times that I would like.
Last week, in Plymouth, the Christmas lights were turned on quietly to empty streets, without the usual fanfare. It was the same for locations across the region.
The shops themselves were mainly closed, barring a few places selling takeaway food and drink and maybe those which have been able to deem themselves as ‘essential’.
So it has been with a more clinical but definitely less fun sense of organisation that I have already had most of the gifts on my list either delivered or picked up by click and
collect, from local stores wherever possible. But I think it has been for the best.
Even if the country opens up the doors of retailers everywhere, there won’t be the same atmosphere of yuletide joy and excitement as shoppers stop for a mulled wine as they browse the Christmas markets and grin as they push into the stores to see what could be had. While the rules might be changing, the thought of cramming into stores to buy presents is unlikely to be one that fills many people with excitement.
Rather, there could be concerns over social distancing, and worries that, having endured the worst of what an awful year threw at us, we could risk it all by ignoring the basics next month to finish off our Christmas shopping.
There won’t be markings showing the way into Santa’s grotto, only lines on the floor showing how far you must stand from the next person. Queues at the tills are more likely to be lines to get into stores.
Hard-pressed shops have faced plenty of pain already, so I don’t mean to put anyone off from using local shops, if they can do so safely.
In fact, I would urge them to shop local instead of using online giants, as I have said in this column before.
But I would like to think there is some light at the end of the tunnel for retailers and the city and town centres, not least because Christmas without the shops has not seemed the same.
While in recent years there has been an inexorable move towards online shopping, the fact you can do little else this year will have hopefully reminded people of what they are missing out on.
It is a reminder that Christmas shopping, and retail in general, is not just about purchasing things as quickly and efficiently as possible, but about the experience.
It is about enjoying the lights, the music, the window displays, and maybe stopping for that mulled wine or hot chocolate.
There needs to be a little more effort by the authorities to lure us into Plymouth city centre, once this is all over. Free parking would be nice, despite the fact that such a suggestion was scoffed at by city councillors in a recent meeting.
But, just as closing the house market down for a couple of months led to a frenzied period caused by ‘pentup demand’, it’s highly possible that a post-Covid high street could be in for a bumper period.
Once the vaccines are distributed and the virus is consigned to history, it could be that shops enjoy a renewed sense of popularity.
I can’t wait to do next year’s Christmas shopping.
It’s highly possible that a post-Covid high street could be in for a bumper period