Retail and COVID19 - how well is it doing?

[Bletchleyite]

Can't find a thread that seems to fit this, so here's a new one.

Had the misfortune to find myself in MK Shopping Centre earlier, and my observations were that it was about as busy as a normal Saturday, so I guess there isn't much threat to the businesses there now unless the losses from closure etc were too much.

What have others observed in such places?

 

[J-2739]

Meadowhell near me seemed to be back in action the last time I paid it a visit.

 

[Skimpot flyer]

Passed through London Victoria station today, and it was surprisingly busy. A significant difference I noticed was that the public toilets near the main ticket office are open again (they weren’t as of a matter of weeks ago), as were some retail units, including Upper Crust. The food court upstairs was at long last open, although I didn’t look to see how they manage social distancing. Even the Sainsbury’s Local upstairs was busy, with a good range of sandwiches which, when footfall was much lower, was not the case at all

 

[Ianno87]

Popped to Bury St Edmunds today early afternoon, and absolutely heaving there.

And Cambridge definitely feels 'normal' again Saturday footfall-wise.

 

[scotrail158713]

I was at the Fort in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago. It seemed to be back to a usual level of “busyness”. (Is that even a word? )

 

[Huntergreed]

Interestingly, so far I’ve found most Scottish shops/streets/city centres to be far busier and more packed than their English counterparts, which seems odd given the stricter approach to lockdown up here.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

St Albans very busy (as it as been for a few weeks) , virtually normal bar a bit of queing at some shops. Market has bounced back. Nice weather helps.

 

[northernchris]

Leeds is busy again which is great to see. The media haven't reported much on retail lately, so it's a fair assumption that it's performing well

 

[py_megapixel]

My nearest big town used to have two Argoses within a few minutes walk of each other; one has been binned off though not the one I expected. Unfortunately one of my favourite cafes in the area has also closed.

Otherwise it seems to be doing fine, with plenty of people using the shops and nothing else out-of-business as far as I can see.

 

[Bletchleyite]

My nearest big town used to have two Argoses within a few minutes walk of each other; one has been binned off though not the one I expected. Unfortunately one of my favoruite cafes in the area has also closed.

Otherwise it seems to be doing fine, with plenty of people using the shops and nothing else out-of-business as far as I can see.

Argos are rationalising anyway - where there's a suitably located Sainsbury's they're all moving into those to save on lease costs.

 

[Skimpot flyer]

Argos are rationalising anyway - where there's a suitably located Sainsbury's they're all moving into those to save on lease costs.

There’s one in Western Road in Brighton that is still closed. The external Sainsburys-branded ATM is covered over, so it seems unlikely that it will reopen. It always was on the periphery of how far towards Hove youngsters, in particular, will venture. They think there is no retail world beyond Primark and McDonalds !

 

[matt]

The retail parks in Rugby have looked reasonably busy when I have past them. People were queuing to get in some the shops the other week.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There’s one in Western Road in Brighton that is still closed. The external Sainsburys-branded ATM is covered over, so it seems unlikely that it will reopen. It always was on the periphery of how far towards Hove youngsters, in particular, will venture. They think there is no retail world beyond Primark and McDonalds !

I suspect Argos is an older-person thing - younger people would order off Amazon which offers essentially the same service but delivered rather than from a shop.

 

[MikeWM]

Norwich today looked fairly normal. Chapelfield shopping center probably not quite at normal levels, but everywhere else seems to have bounced back.

 

[thejuggler]

Leeds is busy again which is great to see. The media haven't reported much on retail lately, so it's a fair assumption that it's performing well

My only visit to Leeds this year was last Saturday and it was very quiet. 90 minutes was long enough and that included stopping for half an hour for a coffee.

Lots of empty shops too since I was last there. I know from a friend that during the week it is still a ghost town, that may change as schools go back, but Leeds is seeing a rise in cases which could put a halt to many people returning to the office.

 

[james60059]

Dobbies Garden Centre near Atherstone seemed like a normal Saturday, in fact if it wasn't for the queuing at the restaurant, you would be forgiven for thinking that there was a pandemic on. Hinckley also seemed like a normal Saturday too. Don't know about anyone else, but I have found that since social distancing was implemented, it's made people more patient and courteous to each other.

 

[theblackwatch]

I suspect Argos is an older-person thing - younger people would order off Amazon which offers essentially the same service but delivered rather than from a shop.

And most things not in stock/available for collection in my experience (I tried 5 different products the other day) - with no option to get things delivered to your local store. One to add to https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/companies-that-you-expect-to-disappear-soon.162232/ if it isn't mentioned already, perhaps!

 

[LAX54]

Went to Chichester and Bognor on Saturday, was very busy in Town, BUT inside the shops quite quiet, some of the overheard converations indicated that, if there was a 'restriction' on the amount of people in the shop, and there were one or two waiting, then they just did not bother, a few said 'will look on line at home, not standing here wasting my time'...and walked off

 

[bramling]

Went to Chichester and Bognor on Saturday, was very busy in Town, BUT inside the shops quite quiet, some of the overheard converations indicated that, if there was a 'restriction' on the amount of people in the shop, and there were one or two waiting, then they just did not bother, a few said 'will look on line at home, not standing here wasting my time'...and walked off

I’ve had the same feeling - fairly busy town, but noticeably empty inside shops, with most people in town to socialise or visit cafes.

 

[Hadders]

It's not just about how many people are about but how much they're spending. I've seen lots of people in Stevenage town centre but not many carrying bags suggesting not much money is being spent.

Remember also that retailers have seen significant increases in costs so they can open - lower sales with increasing costs is not a recipe for success....

 

[37424]

Argos are rationalising anyway - where there's a suitably located Sainsbury's they're all moving into those to save on lease costs.

Unless the store is on the existing rationalisation list you cannot assume it will close. There are more Argos Stores reopening next week any that don't reopen in September might be assessed for permanent closure but is by no means certain at this point.

I suspect Argos is an older-person thing - younger people would order off Amazon which offers essentially the same service but delivered rather than from a shop.

Argos Customer base is actually very varied and sales have been good over lockdown with more customers changing to home delivery or click and collect, our shop delivery structure allows a faster service than Amazon in some cases.

It was expected that Home delivery while there would be some drop off post lockdown it would remain high however while it is still higher than pre covid the drop seems to be more than expected with customers returning to the stores that have reopened.

 

[RT4038]

My wife, who works in a discount book cum stationery cum art materials shop, reports sales similar to last year now. Fewer customers, but higher average spend. Sales dipped about 10-15% when the compulsory mask wearing came in, but then has gradually recovered. Costs being seriously controlled.

 

[Ianno87]

My wife, who works in a discount book cum stationery cum art materials shop, reports sales similar to last year now. Fewer customers, but higher average spend. Sales dipped about 10-15% when the compulsory mask wearing came in, but then has gradually recovered. Costs being seriously controlled.

Because of the faff of queueing etc, perhaps fewer people are going out just to potter around the shops, so when people do go out they're making the most of it spending-wise and getting as much as they can while they're there.

 

[route101]

Glasgow has been busy in the afternoons at least, was quiet before the shops reopened in July.

One of my local Sainsburys in closing for good.Older one in town centre mall.

 

[bramling]

Because of the faff of queueing etc, perhaps fewer people are going out just to potter around the shops, so when people do go out they're making the most of it spending-wise and getting as much as they can while they're there.

A lot of my circles are saying they’re doing the same as me - shops as a last resort only. I’ve certainly been to my town on a minimal basis since July, and certain shops which I tended to visit on a fairly regular basis I’ve not been in at all. If my patterns are repeated to any great extent then this would surely have caused a decline.

 

[Ian Cunningham]

Interestingly, so far I’ve found most Scottish shops/streets/city centres to be far busier and more packed than their English counterparts, which seems odd given the stricter approach to lockdown up here.

Similar to scotrail158713 I've noticed a lot of retail seems to be back to near-normal (certainly the retail parks Fort Kinnaird, Straiton etc are all busy - even our small one in Musseburgh was rammed today)

I don't think there's that much difference in restrictions/guidance for general retail between Scotland and England now - think hospitality is broadly similar too apart from mandatory Test and Protect recording

Huntergreed: At the risk of drifting of topic for this thread -did you observe any difference in face-covering use compare between Scotland and England in a retail environment?

 

[Freightmaster]

Dobbies Garden Centre near Atherstone seemed like a normal Saturday, in fact if it wasn't for the queuing at the restaurant, you would be forgiven for thinking that there was a pandemic on.

Nobody wearing masks then?!





MARK

 

[initiation]

I've seen this website linked to before. https://www.spring-board.info/benchmarks

Not sure how accurate the data is but this suggests footfall is still 20%+ down year on year. London still suffering.

 

[tj1997]

According to this article; Retail footfall in August down 34.3% on last year. Up 7.3% on July. High Street footfall in August down 41.7%. Shopping Centres down 37.4%. Retail Parks down 11.1%.

Footfall "not returning" to city centres as office staff stay home

City centre shops have continued to see a slump in footfall in August as vast swathes of office employees continued to work from home.

www.retailgazette.co.uk

 

[Bletchleyite]

According to this article; Retail footfall in August down 34.3% on last year. Up 7.3% on July. High Street footfall in August down 41.7%. Shopping Centres down 37.4%. Retail Parks down 11.1%.

Footfall "not returning" to city centres as office staff stay home

City centre shops have continued to see a slump in footfall in August as vast swathes of office employees continued to work from home.

www.retailgazette.co.uk

With that mentioning office staff, perhaps Saturdays and Sundays are returning to normal (my observation based on which I started this thread), but not weekdays, because people aren't dropping in at the shopping centre on their lunch break?