Non-essential stores in England to open on Monday
LONDONAfter more than three months of enforced closure due to the pandemic, non-essential stores in England reopen their doors today, hoping that the escape from lockdown will fuel a trading boom.
Industry lobby group, the British Retail Consortium, estimates stores have lost £27 billion (S$49 billion) in sales over three lockdowns, while 67,000 retail jobs were shed last year alone.
Some 17,532 chain store outlets vanished from high streets, shopping centres and retail parks across the UK last year, according to data compiled by researcher Local Data Company for accountancy firm PwC.
But with more than half of the UK's adult population having received at least one of the vaccine's two doses, analysts do not think shoppers will hold back.
Market researcher Kantar forecasts consumers will spend £3.9 billion on the high street in the first week of reopening.
"There was definitely a bounce at the end of the lockdown last year (in June), I would be surprised if the same thing didn't happen again," Mr Simon Wolfson, CEO of fashion retailer Next, told Reuters.
Many shopping areas will look very different from their pre-pandemic state. A raft of chains, including fashion retailers Topshop, Topman, Burton, Oasis and Laura Ashley, which had been fixtures for decades, will not be there - high-profile casualties of a crisis that has hammered the sector.
England's non-essential stores have been closed since Jan 4, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed a third lockdown.
Non-essential retail will also reopen in Wales today, though Scotland's shops will have to wait until at least April 26. Northern Ireland does not have a date yet.
Getting shoppers spending again is key to Britain's recovery after data last month showed last year was the worst year for its economy in more than three centuries.
Analysts reckon the customer bounce-back could be more pronounced than the one last June.
"Lockdowns clearly improve the average family P&L, and many will be thinking that they won't be going on an overseas holiday this year. Shoppers have money to spend, and most people haven't shopped fashion for nearly two years," said analysts at Peel Hunt. - REUTERS
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