To think the shops in England won't re open before Xmas?

[harrirrttu]

This morning woke up believing the stores would re open in December.
Went Xmas shopping today.
Lady who served me in pandora said she didn't think they would be re opening.
Also the lady in primark who served me said the same.
I've decided to finish my shopping this week for Christmas just incase.
Got a lot done today.
What do you think ?
Do you think they will stay shut now.

I think lockdown will be extended on 2 December but non-essential retail will be allowed to open. Not everyone can shop online and supermarkets don't stock everything.

Many MPs will not only want their Christmas. They will want their pre Christmas too. Like pre Christmas drinkies, informal get togethers etc. And they will want to be able to do this without being watched like a hawk by the press. Which is what will happen if MPs attempt to do these things during a lockdown. And i very much doubt they will want to sacrifice these.
I bet they are silently cursing Cummings, Ferguson , Farrier et al because they have made being watched by the press even more likely.

The shops are saying this as they want you to do as much shopping this week as you can.

@MercyBooth

Many MPs will not only want their Christmas. They will want their pre Christmas too. Like pre Christmas drinkies, informal get togethers etc. And they will want to be able to do this without being watched like a hawk by the press. Which is what will happen if MPs attempt to do these things during a lockdown. And i very much doubt they will want to sacrifice these. I bet they are silently cursing Cummings, Ferguson , Farrier et al because they have made being watched by the press even more likely.

I agree.

I think things will open back up in December because there is a serious risk of mutiny over another round of broken promises that would result in ruining the fragments of Christmas that aren't already cancelled or illegal.

We may pay for it in January, but Rishi is nit going to want to destroy anymore otherwise functional businesses, and Boris won't want to go down in history next to Cromwell. He'll prefer more of a heroic football in the trenches type of footnote in history.

Well this explains why there is so many people out shopping at the moment

Panic buying Christmas shopping

I’m not worried tbh. I’ll get what I can get whether I get it from stores or online like on amazon

I went Christmas shopping today after I dropped the kids at School.
I went to a charity shop where I bought a new tagged Next Xmas jumper for £3, and a fab huge glossy hardback coffee table type Prof Cox book on Space (rrp £50) for £1. I also bought a table runner, placemats and some Xmas napkins for £3. I donated the £3 change from my tenner. The Hospice shop and I were both very pleased.

I went to Morrisons for diesel and normal groceries and there was almost no loo roll, no paracetamol, not much hot chocolate, tea, coffee. People were buying pasta, canned tomatoes, rice etc.
Lots of pensioners buying whisky, fruit cake, potatoes and tiny chops.

I wish I lived somewhere were the high street actually had shops. I don’t go into my one anymore as 80% of the shops are empty. If I want to go shopping to a proper place my nearest is an hour away for some really good variety of shops.

Sunak didn't want the lockdown anyway.

I think they will. I don't actually think covid is spreading much in shops if at all. Its pubs and gatherings in peoples homes I think personally.

My daughter says if they do extend the lockdown Christmas trees must be considered essential shopping!

Without the November and early December footfall
many shops will not re open
full stop

Furlough covers part of wages
but it does not cover rent, insurance, licences, pensions, utilities, security, communications
and without turnover even those costs will be burning through reserves
many businesses invested significantly in becoming COVID secure
and will not survive

I had to nip into town to grab a click and collect order from the works ( ordered before knew about lockdown coming so didnt want to chance leaving it till they reopen in December, and them sending it back and cancelling the order)
And to grab some table place mats for new glass table.
It was heaving, massive queue in the works people grabbing arm fulls of toys and puzzles, one woman brushed passed me and everyone else not giving a toss that she was physically touching people.
Went into wilko for the place mats and the queue was huge, abandoned there and went to poundland where it was much quieter and found lovely slate place mats and coasters.
Apart from them bits, i wasnt even going to attempt any other shops or Christmas shopping.
Ive done most of it online for delivery and the rest can wait till December - if they dont reopen then the remaining bits i can get online anyway.

It was crazy busy, if it wasn't for my click and collect order i wouldn't have bothered going.

Pretty sure they will. It will be the final nail in the coffin for businesses which depend on Xmas trade.

I haven’t really bought anything in store for years anyway so it doesn’t hugely affect me. I think they will reopen in December personally, we’ve had enough economic blows without basically closing the economy down before the Christmas rush.

@Sunnydaysstillhere I love Henry’s Christmas list, hope he gets what he wants! 🎅🏼🐈🎄

I did my Christmas shopping (presents for DC and DH and non-perishable Christmas food) through late September and October with the possibility of another lockdown in mind, wanting to spend the money in our local High Street shops rather than online and also while they were quieter. An ordinary weekly food shop for the six of us is going to be enough to do with the pressure there's now going to be on the supermarkets.

The sudden closure of non-essential retail has taken me slightly by surprise though, I'd come to believe the government would stick with the local tier system and keep retail open. Not sure I agree with the closure of this sector, it seems low-risk with mask-wearing, social distancing, screens and sanitiser etc. in place?

It's less than 8 weeks until Christmas now and with the infection rate figures as they are I'm not sure non-essential shops will open in 4 weeks time. I'd say possibly not before the New Year. Many in our city may not reopen at all unfortunately.

I wouldn't call it panic buying to get out and spend Christmas money to support local shops while they're still open these last two days. With the enormous pressure there's going to be on online deliveries in the coming weeks, ordering well in advance of Christmas if possible is surely advisable too in case of delays.

Unless the assistant in Pandora moonlight for Sage, she hasn't a clue.

One of my staff was INSISTING that no child would be back in school before September because her LA immediately refunded all school bus passes for the rest of the year before the end of March. Apparently it was a right kerfuffle to rearrange payment for the days children attended before summer.

For each covid prediction there is an equal and opposite prediction...

IDontMindMarmite
Can threads like this not go in the dedicated Covid board?
We really need an AIBU Covid section don't we? The answer is generally yes you are BU.

Agreed. I imagine that if I were a retail worker, I'd be pretty scared for my job right now. I'd be avoiding the covid board for my sanity's sake. If threads and speculation like this must be started, at least have some consideration for those who are trying to avoid them.

Honestly, there are very few retailers with no online presence. We need to be buying online where possible

Work was good in September so we did the kid's Christmas lists and got some food in.

Work is rubbish right now, so I'm glad we did. I hope they do reopen before Christmas, I'm not religious but I'll be honest it's like a wee candle in the dark right now. It's keeping me going.

Ok for those who can afford it. Really shit as usual for poorer people who are waiting for the Nov (and possibly Dec) pay days to buy for Christmas, and have no recourse to credit cards. As usual, poorer people worst hit. 😞

I think they will yes, I think it will be four weeks and back to tier as they said, and I think the forecasts are over exaggerated in thr first place.

It’s just Christmas . I hardly think its essential actually.

"Don't know about the assistant in Primark, but the lady in Pandora was definitely trying to get you to spend more money!"

Well our Pandora store has closed its doors for good so she mightn't be far wrong

Honestly, there are very few retailers with no online presence. We need to be buying online where possible

Loads of small independent shops don't, let alone things like market stalls and kiosks (are 'outdoor' shops being forced to close too?). Also, the places that specialise in selling mountains of very cheap things to loads of different customers would struggle with absorbing postage costs - nobody will pay £2.99 postage for an item costing £1; ditto impulse or on-the-fly purchases that nobody would bother ordering online and waiting for.