Very Weird

[teacake44]

Had a walk round my local shopping centre yesterday, its normally crammed on a Sunday even on Fathers day. Just a very strange experience, I would say 70% of shops were open, but most, more or less empty, shop staff just standing near the doors looking completely bored, kitted out with face shields/ masks, and most with hand jell available at the doors .

There was one Greggs out of three open, one of the few with a queue, inside it was obvious they had cut down on many items that are normally available, and only one serving hence the small queue. B&M seemed to be ticking along with the pound shop and Aldi.
The big stores including M&S, Boots, TKM etc were deserted.
I just can't see these stores surviving. Most people are concerned about their jobs at the moment so spending is really out of the window I would have thought. What's your area like? if you've been out and about.

[barry1010]

I've no idea what my area is like, I don't enjoy shopping at the best of times. I am sure many shops will close but I think that will leave openings for new businesses with fresh ideas. It won't be long before things are back to the old normal, not the new normal. You only have to look at the huge queues outside Primark, Ikea, Greggs to see that people want to shop and spend money. Shopping seems to be one of the biggest leisure activities in the UK and that is not going to change.

Don't forget a lot of people have saved money during lockdown. The unwaged have not had a drop in income and even those furloughed may have come out on top with no travel costs, no daily coffees and meals during working hours, no hairdresser and similar, no childminders/nursery fees, no dry cleaning, no eating out, no trips to the pub and other social activities, no holidays.

I do think a lot of high end shops and businesses will suffer. They rely on foreign tourists, especially the Chinese, for their income. I've been getting a lot of emails from Barkers shoes advertising seemingly non-stop sales. I know they sell most of their shoes to Chinese and Japanese tourists. Hopefully their profit margins are high enough to get them through.

[teacake44]

The biggest loss to me seems the window shoppers are missing, window shopping sometimes turns into impulse buying, but with coffee shops still closed and the like of, that day out is spoilt.

[Milo2]

My daughter went to our local shopping centre and said that it was very well organised and so she felt confident about shopping. However, I think people, particularly older ones, will be nervous for a while.

[Maydup]

Our small towns are reasonably busy especially at the weekends. The outdoor market is open and people are pottering around the usual Wilco, B&M, WH Smiths, Savers, Peacocks, Co-op and so on. I think the larger city is less busy but to be honest who wants to go browsing in the big shops with all these strange restrictions? We can all manage with lastbyears clothes now and just get a few household items locally. What with the good weather to, I'd rather stay away.

I might venture back once I can shop freely and get some lunch in a cafe, but until then the internet and the delivery guys are my friends!