Jojo Maman Bébé ‘locked door procedure’

[Redolent]

Sorry if this has been posted before. Jojo Maman Bébé next to me, ever since reopening, has always had its doors locked. You have to knock for a staff member to let you in, and then one of them has to let you out. It’s always appeared deserted every time I walk past, and that’s probably no coincidence (it just looks shut). The staff are also VERY jittery in general about touching items etc in the store. I guess I just find it mildly inhospitable and counterproductive for a business to do this. Feels like a hassle for me and them if I just want a quick browse.

Checked online and this is part of their post-covid reopening policy: “ Introducing a locked door procedure to control customer flow.”

Yeah no way I'm going into a shop that's actually locked the doors. They can get to fuck with that one.

pulling out EVERY tub of flaming coleslaw to find the longest dates

Seems sensible to be honest. I try and go shopping just once a week, but to do that and not waste tonnes of food I need to get the one with the longest dates on. I try not to touch much and just look, but it seems safer than the alternative of popping in most days just to buy what we are going to use quickly in case the date is short.

Our local one has 1-2 people/groups in at a time. The door is open though. At the restaurant next door no-one is wearing a mask and it’s packed to the rafters. I’ve been going in jojo but not the restaurant. I feel terrible for the waitresses/waiters dealing with the risk for minimum wage plus tips (if they’re lucky).

I volunteer in a charity shop and we're really feeling the effects of all this.

We are part of a large chain and the head office, and the charity retail association has imposed a whole raft of measures. One way system, 8 in the shop at a time only, masks, sanitise on the way in, no changing rooms, make an appointment to drop stuff off, 72 hours quarantine on donations. We have to have a volunteer on the door to count people in and out.

NOBODY comes into a charity shop for a specific purpose. Well, they might come in to buy a card. But 99% of people just come in to have a browse, see what we've got and perhaps pick up a jigsaw, book or top.

Our sales have plummeted, partly because we can't open regular hours as we have had a lot of volunteers drop out, but mostly because browsing is being so hugely discouraged. Last week we took about 30% of what we took this time last year.

This thread explains a lot. I'd just assumed the Jojo branch on our high street hadn't reopened?

@Dominicgoings

‘But a fair bit of shopping (for me) comes from browsing and unpremeditated purchases... If I’m wearing a mask, using the sanitiser upon entry and keeping my distance, I can’t see why I shouldn’t do that’

Because wandering aimlessly around a store (ska browsing) increases the risks of transmitting and contacting COVID.
And whilst most people don’t have serious symptoms etc etc we've only managed to kill off 50 odd thousand of our most vulnerable members if society so far.
Still plenty of scope for deaths.

I’m no longer shopping in our M&S food hall because the numbers of middle aged women sauntering around, pulling out EVERY tub of flaming coleslaw to find the longest dates and changing direction 40 times. Gived me the rage.
Not to mention the abuse retail staff are getting.
We’re still in a global pandemic. Shopping habits have to change.

Until the general public accept that it’s no real wonder retailers are taking these measures. Your browsing days are over for now.

The risks of transmission with people wearing masks (in a well-ventilated space...if they’d actually kept the door open) are infinitesimal. Your post is completely over the top, and I’m someone who takes covid extremely seriously. Safe shopping and yes, browsing, should be encouraged.

I don't work in retail any more, but if I did I would - as a 40yo with no other illnesses - be literally a million times more worried about unemployment than Covid right now.

[quote Hellokitty82]@SnuggyBuggy
I totally agree
I've made a list of all of the Christmas presents I need and we've been working our way down it online! The ques etc.. are just ridiculous even now so can you imagine the availability issues and ques in October/ November and December?? [/quote]
There must be huge regional variations, on a busy Saturday you might have to queue for a short time to get into some shops and you can't try clothes on but other than that you can browse, you can pick stuff up, you don't have to queue for ages to pay and people are behaving normally.

Do I live in some kind of weird place? Are the posters on this thread actually going out shopping?

FFS. You can always spot the people who have no clue what its like for retailers

In that case, how is every other store on earth managing to stay open without locking the door and dying of covid within the first 10 minutes?

If you want to keep your store like fort knox thats your choice but dont then be shocked when you go bankrupt in a few short months. Everyone else is managing not to be an arse about it!

This would put me off massively. It’s not like there’s much in that store that you can’t just get in John Lewis instead.

I haven’t encountered anywhere doing temperature checks but that would also put me off - it feels like performance of precautions rather than an actual precaution, since the thermometers being used can be wildly inaccurate. I’d rather places be focusing on social distancing, masking and good old cleaning.

I work in DP business which has a showroom and office. It’s not a very big space (although we have cleared the area to create more room to socially distance) we are having to keep the door locked as despite having a huge sign asking people to limit to two customers from same household be in the showroom at any one time it’s completely ignored. We take deliveries into the showroom and delivery drivers also completely ignore the signs asking them to knock and wait and have been barging in when there are customers in the showroom, so we have felt there is choice but to lock the door.

We have also put a big sign up saying staff only beyond this point to keep our office shut off from the showroom (we keep doors closed) this again is ignored. Its obviously not everyone but we have a duty of care to staff and visitors and unfortunately there are people who either forget or ignore the guidelines that’s businesses have to adhere too

@AnotherEmma

YANBU.

I am heavily pregnant and have PGP. Due to lockdown, wasn't able to do any actual shopping earlier in my pregnancy when I was more able to walk. However, I did want to choose something for my baby in an actual shop so I traipsed over to JoJo Maman Bebe only to have to wait at the door to be let in, then literally locked inside. Walked around the shop feeling like a prisoner and then had to wait to be let out. Took all the joy out of the experience and funnily enough i didn't buy anything.

It's a fire risk. I actually said that to the shop assistant on the way out. We are more likely to die by being trapped in a locked shop due to a fire than we are of catching covid and dying from it.

Christ.

Imagine one of your children being stuck with a customer like you when they are older.

These measures are there to protect the staff as well as you. It really doesn't have much to do with "Poor little pregnant women".

Can you imagine how that shop assistant felt when you brought up dying in a fire? They are already scared shitless about getting sick.

Well done you.

@Tara336 so you're risking your customers safety in event of fire because you cannot find another way to limit numbers?

I’m wondering how it works for H&S pov. What if there is a fire? I thought that the obvious exit would have been the entrance door. That would be locked.

I wouldn’t go in either @Redolent. It’s hard enough atm for many reasons, I’m not going to add another layer of awkwardness Because someone has gone over the top re Covid rules.

Xpost.
I can see I’m not the only one to think about fire issues.

I have to say I’m laughing at the idea of having someone opening the door, closing it etc...
The only time I’ve had to do was with a high end jeweller.

Before lockdown when primark and others decided to shut their doors, I remember many posters saying that they would change the way they shop and only go to brands that put the health of their staff and customers above profit. Now it’s all ‘if they don’t want your money, shop elsewhere’ and ‘they’ll get a p45 soon’.

@Crawlbee no we are not. If someone is in the showroom the door isnt locked because we can ask people to not come in while it’s being used. We have two entrances and exits the second is kept unlocked at all times as it doesn’t open onto the street so issues with people just walking in.

Jojo shops wouldn't be able to reopen to the public without an OK from H&S.

They aren't a pound shop.

They aren't a pound shop.

Snobby much? Pretty sure the Pound shop chains also follow H&S legislation.

I love my local pound shop! :o

But it's not a chain.

Did you think I meant Poundland?

They are already scared shitless about getting sick

I have many retail workers amongst. My family and friends, not one of them thinkslike that. One works in a huge supermarket and hasn't had any holiday since the lockdown started, iveasked her more than once if the staff ate scared and she says not, there's no reason that her supermarket co-workers are different to any other retail workers.

Your comment is hysterical scaremongering

@GlendaSugarbeanIsJudgingYou

Jojo shops wouldn't be able to reopen to the public without an OK from H&S.

They aren't a pound shop.

Which of the many H&S laws have special exemptions for pound shops?

@whirlwindwallaby I agree, I thought best practice was to keep doors open as much as possible for ventilation. Surely a member of staff could stand on the door to control entry, as most places have done. I wouldn’t go to a shop with a locked door policy unless I wanted something specific.

@lifesalongsong

They are already scared shitless about getting sick

I have many retail workers amongst. My family and friends, not one of them thinkslike that. One works in a huge supermarket and hasn't had any holiday since the lockdown started, iveasked her more than once if the staff ate scared and she says not, there's no reason that her supermarket co-workers are different to any other retail workers.

Your comment is hysterical scaremongering

What?