Oxford Street shops - crowds without distancing

[VenusOfWillendorf]

I've just been watching the BBC news over my lunch, and they were reporting on the shops reopening. The first shopping center they were at looked good - queue to get in but well distanced and marked out and everyone looking happy to be out and about again.

Then they went to NikeTown on Oxford street - it looked more like the opening of the Black Friday Sales! There looked to be no distancing at all - just a crowd literally pushing and shoving to get in the door.

I don't understand why the shop opened at all with a crowd like that - surely they should have remained closed and had their security (who looked to be overwhelmed) tell everyone to go home? Or does the fact that there seemed to be no distancing with the demonstrations at the weekend make the whole thing meaningless anyway?

Should shops that are unable to enforce social distancing either inside or outside be allowed to open?
YABU - They should be open, they all need the income now

YANBU - They should close if they can't maintain the rules.

[quote Eckhart]@NowImLivinInExeter

Why is it better to be able to go into shops than buy online? It's a genuine question and I'd love somebody to give a genuine answer to this. I really don't get the appeal. I can understand it for trying clothes on, but, as I understand it, that's not even allowed at the moment. I can understand people wanting to have pubs and restaurants open because it's nice to have people bring you food and drink in a pleasant space and not have to wash up afterwards. But Primark isn't a pleasant room to be in. Horrible lighting, horrible decor which is mostly ads for themselves, air conditioning which we hate if it's in our offices and we have to spend time in it... I just don't get it.[/quote]
Because it sells loads and loads of stuff that loads and loads of people really like, for a price they can afford.

Primark doesn't have a website but even if it did, the whole point of places like that is having a look in person and grabbing a bargain. High Street sizing is completely random so online shopping doesn't bridge the gap.

You need to be there to see what they have, to touch the fabric, and if you can't try it on, at least hold it up and make a good guess.

I'm sure you understand why bookshops still thrive even though amazon exists. Shopping, browsing, and just being amongst cool stuff is an enjoyable pastime.

Imagine a big warehouse full of the things you personally love, at brilliant prices. That's what Primark is to it's target market.

Why is it better to be able to go into shops than buy online? It's a genuine question and I'd love somebody to give a genuine answer to this.

Simply because some people enjoy it more than shopping online. That is it. Most people do both.

[quote Ponoka7]@GalesThisMorning,
"I can't imagine anything more soul crushing than shopping for sneakers and £5 tops at the moment"

Lock down happened before spring fashion came into the shops, people need clothes to fit their budget. The people who make those tops can only dream of being able to afford one. They need us to buy them, or they starve. Meanwhile in Nigeria, there's a surge in sex crimes, including the rape of babies.

When the government talks about bubbles, you don't have to permanently live in one.[/quote]
What? I'm trying but I can't quite get you... Spring fashion in Primark - ok, horses for courses but if that's your thing I guess go for it.
Yes. The people who produce Primark are exploited. Reason to avoid Primark I'd say. I don't know that cheap clothing has been the salvation of the women and children who produce it for us.
I don't understand your link to the rape of babies. I'm not sure you do, either.

I don't live in a bubble. I'm also not so bored that social distance shopping in budget clothing stores appeals to me yet.

Anyone would think we had been in lockdown for 3 years rather than almost 3 months.

I can't understand the obsession with shopping. If people want to ignore all the social distancing rules then, really, it is up to them but I just think how stupid they are

Shopping is the nation's favourite hobby.

The fault with NIKE is the staffing. Some photos on the DM online show young women as 'crowd controllers' standing with their arms out to show 2 mtrs and no one taking any notice of them.

And most of the hsoppers are young males who feel invincible.

There is also a lot of ingorance around.

On the BBC website there are a mother and daughter interviewed after going to Primark. The mum is 35 and pregnant, the daughter is 16. The mum says as long as they have their masks on they are safe (that's her mask not the shop assts.)

People have been told time after time that masks do not offer protection unless they are the sort that medics use.

Masks may stop transmission slightly if you have Covid, by trapping some droplets, but they are not a lot of use if someone sneezes in your face as the particles go right through the mask.

The news showed most shoppers patiently social distancing today. One store had problems but given the low infection rate in the community, its unlikely that one store will have caused any transmissions.

@bubbleup

"Apart from one or two on the news (wonder why those were picked) I’ve seen lots and lots on social media and in local papers online which very clearly were."

@cardibach ok. Well I've seen lots on social media and in the news that quite clearly weren't. Including Glasgow, London, Cardiff, Lancaster, Manchester, Leeds, Huddersfield, Preston, Birmingham, Newcastle, Coventry, Oxford, leicester.....I could go on.

Which news sites are you viewing? Shetland? I even saw slight breaking of social distancing on there 😂

I’m in Cardiff. I’ve seen aerial photos of ours and know people who have been to them. They were socially distanced - much more so than the beaches a few weeks ago. Not sure where you’ve been looking, but perhaps it’s in papers using dodgy lenses to make people look closer together. I’ve seen similar footage of people at most of the places you mention or, again, know people who have been to them. I’ve been a bit of a nomad over the years and I have friends all over the place.

@Eckhart

To support the high street? If you don't shop in your local shops, they will close, even if they are part of a big chain that has a decent online presence

So you think those queuing with little or no regard to social distancing are doing this because they're looking at the bigger picture?

Not necessarily, but what does it matter why they're doing it? Maybe they like shopping? Maybe they want to get out of the house without their kids to do something for themselves for the first time since March?

We need people to spend money in our towns and cities. The economy has tanked and will continue to tank further unless we get people out and spending. The reasons why really don't matter - what matters is that they're going out and spending.

We need shops to survive. When pubs etc. re-open, we need them to survive to. They support hundreds of thousands of workers, plus their families. The high street is struggling as it is - the more people choose to shop online, the more the high street will die.

I imagine the queues for John Lewis were for the sale, I bought loads online from there yesterday, also they might have been able to buy a breadmaker, they are very scarce but I bet there are some languishing up the corner in JL stores, unfortunately none are open near me anytime soon.

"I’m in Cardiff. I’ve seen aerial photos of ours and know people who have been to them. They were socially distanced - much more so than the beaches a few weeks ago. Not sure where you’ve been looking, but perhaps it’s in papers using dodgy lenses to make people look closer together. I’ve seen similar footage of people at most of the places you mention or, again, know people who have been to them. I’ve been a bit of a nomad over the years and I have friends all over the place."

Me too. The aerial shots outside the castle etc were socially distanced. When they all got up to leave however that wasn't the case. I've seen a friends personal photos of that particular protest and believe me, she has no shit hot lenses. This is also not fancy Lens work. It is a mass gathering.

Also it's not an either/or situation. Beaches vs shopping vs protests. None of those have made much effort to distance. None. And that is not good enough

@vanillandhoney

Not necessarily, but what does it matter why they're doing it? Maybe they like shopping? Maybe they want to get out of the house without their kids to do something for themselves for the first time since March

I was just curious to know what it is people enjoy so much about going to shops, rather than shopping online, as it's not something I enjoy myself.

Maybe people could answer for themselves, rather than have you make a bunch of suggestions about what they might be thinking? Maybe you don't get to vet the questions? Maybe people are answering me for themselves, so you don't need to guess on their behalf?

"The people who produce Primark are exploited."

Primark stuff is produced all over the place, easily as much in Europe as in Asia. Its the fact that they churn out their stuff in ridicolously massive quantities that keeps their prices so low I expect.

Mid range high street clothes shops produce more of their stuff in Asia from my experience. Just because the price is higher doesnt mean they treat their workers better, pay them better, or the stuff is higher quality. A lot of the stuff in primark wears as well as the midrange shops.

@MaybeNew

Or, more accurately, the low paid garment workers cannot afforded to feed themselves and house themselves properly because people will not pay enough for their clothes. It’s a myth that low paid garment workers are grateful for our buy cheap mass consumer culture. The jobs that they all want are in those factories with decent conditions and wages. Those factories don’t make for the high street.

Exactly this. But modern day slavery is all right apparently. It’s just the 17th century variety we need to be concerned about.

[quote Eckhart]@vanillandhoney

Not necessarily, but what does it matter why they're doing it? Maybe they like shopping? Maybe they want to get out of the house without their kids to do something for themselves for the first time since March

I was just curious to know what it is people enjoy so much about going to shops, rather than shopping online, as it's not something I enjoy myself.

Maybe people could answer for themselves, rather than have you make a bunch of suggestions about what they might be thinking? Maybe you don't get to vet the questions? Maybe people are answering me for themselves, so you don't need to guess on their behalf?[/quote]
Blimey, who pissed in your cornflakes?

It makes a mockery of all the sensible people who have done the right thing, making sacrifices and doing their best to stick to lock down rules and social distancing where possible in order to gain control over this virus, and it's two fingers up to the NHS. People mixing in crowds just means infections will continue and this shit situation will go on for longer than it otherwise might have done. While this situation has brought out the best in some people (NHS staff for example and people helping isolated neighbours

I have to laugh at this and many other "thinking the nhs" type posts I've seen lately. Sports direct are doing 50%off for nhs staff in store only today and many of my fellow NHS colleagues have posted photos of the massive round the block queue they were part of this morning to get in (an hour long at one point).

In all honesty the only people I've seen desperate to keep lockdown going and going on about beaches and shops opening are people who have been furloughed or working from home and havent actually been out and about much.

@MorrisZapp

Imagine a big warehouse full of the things you personally love, at brilliant prices. That's what Primark is to it's target market

There are such places. I don't like them. That's the crux of my question, really!

"Please tell me why people like going to the shops."

"Sure, here are some reasons."

"Oh. I don't like any of that."

@PuntoEBasta

"Please tell me why people like going to the shops."

"Sure, here are some reasons."

"Oh. I don't like any of that."

@vanillandhoney

You, you berk!

[quote Eckhart]@vanillandhoney

You, you berk![/quote]
Aren't you a delight

I dunno, I don't mean to be anything else, though

If the stores can't follow a clear and safe policy they need to close until they do.

@PuntoEBasta

I just like answers from the horses mouth, rather than people making guesses at what other people might be thinking. So shoot me.

I mean what’s the deal with this, don’t people just shop online.

Primary has no website fair enough but websites like boohoo are just as cheap.