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Are the clothing sections of supermarkets open?

142 replies

Sparrowlegs248 · 02/04/2020 21:09

I haven't been to a supermarket for a month. I need a few essentials, and randomly one child has got holes in socks every day for about 2 weeks. Just debating whether to get the essentials from the local shop or travel to the supermarket and get socks while I'm there. I had read that sone non essential parts of shops were closing.

OP posts:
whitesoxx · 03/04/2020 00:05

Or 12 week old babies for that matter.

MorrisZapp · 03/04/2020 00:07

So shops are open but you're not meant to buy the stuff? If retail workers don't want you to pick up socks with your groceries then they should section off the bits they don't want you walking through.

WanderingLost167 · 03/04/2020 00:09

Disgusted?

Your threshold for disgust must be remarkablely low if the idea of me looking for a couple of items of clothing elicit that sort of response.

Sparklingbrook · 03/04/2020 00:28

I don;t think decisions about sales of socks come from 'retail workers' but the bosses at Head Office.

It's perfectly possible to grab a couple of pairs of socks like you would a tin of beans. No need for spending ages browsing. They are socks.

Flaxmeadow · 03/04/2020 00:40

OP just buy the clothes and ignore the sanctimonious posters on here as some people forget how quickly children grow.

People are giving advice and alternatives to avoid spending too much time in a store. Stores are the biggest risk for most people now. It is the only place most people spend time in a confined area with other people away from home.

This is a critical time in the lockdown. Cases of infection are shooting up. Why risk exposing yourself and exposing others at the moment?

TorysSuckRevokeArticle50 · 03/04/2020 00:42

@whitesoxx we're moving from cold weather to warm, clothing requirements change and children grow fast.

This situation was unexpected and stores are only just getting their summer clothes in. So many people won't have prepared in advance.

Me and DH can manage perfectly fine with last years clothes, my child can't because they don't fit. That is even more likely to be the case with babies and teenagers who grow at ridiculously quick rates.

No one here is suggesting a special trip just to browse the latest fashions, but if you're in the supermarket getting eggs, milk and bread what's wrong with also getting shorts, socks and T-shirt's?

The stores obviously don't have a problem with it or they would have put the stock away and filled the space with racks of loo roll.

The Government have said on the topic of things like Easter eggs that if stores normally stock those things alongside the essential items then they can continue to do so.

There is a balance to be had between depriving ourselves of everything but tinned meat and frozen bread or daily leisure trips to buy luxuries.

The sensible balance is that you leave the house as infrequently as possible and combine all of your needs into as few trips as possible.

whitesoxx · 03/04/2020 01:40

"No one here is suggesting a special trip just to browse the latest fashions"

Yes they are though. That's my point. People are pointing out how refreshingly quiet it was to have a browse.

OP has said she won't bother going if the clothing part isn't open - in that case should not even be considering it. Thrown in as you pass by on the aisle to get your essentials is one thing, making a special trip because your kids are wearing odd socks is another.

As for the kids grow remarkably fast stuff Hmm really? They grow faster than your 4 pinter runs out do they? Faster than the time it takes from one essential shop to another? No. They don't. Yet people think clothes shopping is a valid reason to leave the house.

As for a remarkably low threshold for disgust. No, not at all. But look at the world around you and what you are saying and doing. Families everywhere are grieving and there is something everyone can do to try and prevent that as much as we can.

So yes, it's pretty disgusting actually

whitesoxx · 03/04/2020 01:45

"I need children's socks, and I won't bother going to a supermarket if they are not open."

It's exactly this that riles me.

No. You don't need children's socks. And as you are only going to go if you can get them then that is both a non-essential journey and it is to buy a non-essential item.

Why do you think the rules don't apply to you?

480Widdio · 03/04/2020 02:05

@whitesoxx,I don’t believe there is any law at the moment that prohibits you from buying what is on sale in shops.

Might be an idea to realise you have no control over other people’s lives,

PotholeParadise · 03/04/2020 02:13

When you next need to go to the supermarket for a full shop, grab some socks as you go past.

Don't go early just for socks.

PotholeParadise · 03/04/2020 02:17

whitesoxx

No. You don'tneed children'ssocks. And as you are only going to go if you can get them then that is both a non-essential journey and it is to buy a non-essential item.

That is, and isn't, true.

OP needs to go shopping anyway. The question is which shop she's going to go to. If the supermarket doesn't sell socks, she will go to shop A to buy groceries. If the supermarket sells socks, she will go there to buy groceries + socks.

I have no idea where she lives, and even less idea of the shops' layout and footfall, so I have no idea which is better for avoiding passing on Coronavirus.

Cherrychops100 · 03/04/2020 02:31

What happens if you're expecting a baby and have literally no clothing items? I understand this is a very serious and worrying time and people shouldn't just be out specifically to browse clothes but nobody is suggesting that's what they're doing. OP just wanted to know if supermarkets were still selling clothes so she could go to one and pick up some needed socks along with her shopping, no crime has been committed.
Let's all just try to be kind to one another during this stressful and sad time, there's no place for nastiness in any time especially not now.

tappitytaptap · 03/04/2020 03:09

@Cherrychops100 I expect some of the posters here would have you wrap them in an old sheet as clothes are such a ‘luxury’ Hmm

PotholeParadise · 03/04/2020 03:14

If anyone needs baby clothes, post on FB. Skint people who've lost their jobs will snap your hand off to sell you bundles of outgrown baby clothes!

safariboot · 03/04/2020 03:16

Buying clothes because yours are worn out is reasonable. In Tesco and Asda in my city the clothing areas were open. Try and pick quickly though, people are possibly waiting to get in the store (even if there wasn't a queue when you went in), and don't go rummaging around stuff loads.

PyongyangKipperbang · 03/04/2020 03:27

I was wondering this.

DD is an ODP and they have been instructed to throw away their socks when removing scrubs in order to minimise risk. She is getting through socks like nobody's business so I was going to pick her some up.

Unless someone can direct me to somewhere that I can buy in bulk as a member of the public?

Thepigeonsarecoming · 03/04/2020 03:30

If you need to go shopping and pick up socks you aren’t breaking any laws. Don’t let people make you feel guilty OP

PyongyangKipperbang · 03/04/2020 03:34

And if anyone would like to tell me that her need for socks is non essential, I will cheerfully argue that point as long as you sodding like.

Thepigeonsarecoming · 03/04/2020 03:42

@PyongyangKipperbang well she could incinerate them, and then stitch a new pair from the ashes 😂 Seriously the mumsnet police on what people can and can’t do it getting ridiculous.

Yes don’t browse, only shop when you need to, however if your shopping and you need something that is available to buy then that’s ok, don’t be ask to be judged by the mumsnet, just do it. If it was illegal they wouldn’t be selling those items. Just use common sense

PotholeParadise · 03/04/2020 03:45

I read that the Romans did that with gold. It was cremated with the deceased, and then the gold was picked out of the ashes and remade.

Thepigeonsarecoming · 03/04/2020 03:52

Maybe buy her a sieve to sort the sock remains? Oh but that would an unnecessary purchase even if you’re doing your full food shop. Your extra 10 seconds of government sanctioned shopping picking up an on sale item would make you a murderer

PotholeParadise · 03/04/2020 03:56

What about a spinning wheel to re-weave them into thread?

Thepigeonsarecoming · 03/04/2020 03:59

That could work, just watch out for the needle, who knows if a curse has been put upon it

PippaPegg · 03/04/2020 04:09

Children are having a shitty enough time of it without also being denied socks!

It will take OP 1 or 2 minutes to grab the socks on her way round for the food essentials.

Jeez some people are really enjoying the misery of lockdown.

Gingerkittykat · 03/04/2020 04:12

If anyone needs baby clothes, post on FB. Skint people who've lost their jobs will snap your hand off to sell you bundles of outgrown baby clothes!

I would say the risk of taking a bag of clothes from a stranger is greater than the risk of grabbing them from the supermarket right now.