Essential retail....

[January21]

I'm hearing that essential retail might be streamlined and some stores may be closed

so possibly The Range,B&M?....I think this would help keeping people home and actually should have been the case from day 1

will drive everyone into proper essential retail resulting in more queues etc

Do you think this is a good idea?

Im so so sick of this..................so im calling it. When they ask us to go out and spend after this is over............we dont. Essentials only We just continue in this vein. Lets give them exactly what they want.

@ElephantWhaleRabbit but the shops are now crowded , well supermarkets are ,whole families are going shopping , no sd , people touching everything , quite a few not in masks
I want to be able to go and see my family some time soon where I could sit the other side of the room but I can't , but instead when I go get my essential food I am put at risk with people treating shopping as a day out , a short sharp proper lockdown has got to be worth a try
Maybe let everyone bubble with one other household locally so you can have a bit of time with others not in your house
But these tiers which are still restrictive don't seem to be doing much. Maybe with a short lockdown we could really ramp up vaccinations as well as only way I can see a way of getting anywhere near normal is when we get loads vaccinated

they won't be concentrated in one store.....stores are only letting a few in at a time, rest will queue outside

don't shop staff deserve to be safe at work too? currently, retail is full of demanding rude customers complaining theres no stock and refusing to comply with even the basics.

getting to the point at our store where so many staff are isolating/shielding/sick. its spreading somehow.

@ElephantWhaleRabbit

I’ve got a radical idea. Why not let the shops open and let people buy what they like in them?

As for non-essential, some people spend as much time browsing shampoo and deodorant as they do non-essential clothes. If you’re there anyway, you should be able to buy it.

today alone our store had 1,392 customers through the doors.

I agree with the point about families - unless someone genuinely has no childcare, I have no idea why it takes a family of four to get the groceries. It’s ridiculous.

From the Melbourne lockdown experience, this is how it was handled when at its most severe:

1. Everyone confined to 5K radius from home
2. Only food/pharmacies/doctors and vets open - everything else click and collect. For complicated reasons, alcohol outlets counted as food. :o Massive encouragement to keep journeys to one a day.
3. Only one shopper unless a caregiver.
4. Cap on numbers in a shop
5. Social distancing
6. Till workers behind screens
7. Masks
8. Hand sanitiser at entrance of all shops.

4 to 8 still apply, and online shopping is very popular.

Clearly what is done in one place can't be exactly replicated in another, and this is only about shopping. I live alone and so shop alone. It was a shock when suddenly entire families turned up in supermarkets, I can tell you.

they won't be concentrated in one store.....stores are only letting a few in at a time, rest will queue outside

Going to be pretty long queues in miserable weather if more shops are forced to close.

don't shop staff deserve to be safe at work too? currently, retail is full of demanding rude customers complaining theres no stock and refusing to comply with even the basics.

Sure, but you still haven't told me how closing even more shops is going to solve any of this.

schools are out now until jan 11th here. After christmas the sales shoppers will still be out,as will those wanting to repaint/decorate after the decs are down

the whole family goes along to browse

its not fair on staff who are literally, sitting ducks.we have been given letters to carry in case stopped by police for being on a non essential journey ....we had these in March before everything opened up again. we really need some help in enforcing customers to keep back, wear a mask....theres no respect for our health at all

@IcedPurple

they won't be concentrated in one store.....stores are only letting a few in at a time, rest will queue outside

Going to be pretty long queues in miserable weather if more shops are forced to close.

don't shop staff deserve to be safe at work too? currently, retail is full of demanding rude customers complaining theres no stock and refusing to comply with even the basics.

Sure, but you still haven't told me how closing even more shops is going to solve any of this.

those queues will be full of people buy-in true essentials thoughts in theory, will be shorter

by taking away all the fun stuff and only being allowed to legally sell essentials will mean less people out....less spread.

*queues,not thoughts!!

of those 1,300+ people in our store today....roughly 1 in 8 were not wearing a mask, excluding children

and majority were not buying essentials. watching cushions and mirrors going through the tills was pissing us all off!

If primary schools are open, I need the range to be open. Vital supplies.

*those queues will be full of people buy-in true essentials thoughts in theory, will be shorter

by taking away all the fun stuff and only being allowed to legally sell essentials will mean less people out....less spread.*

I don't think so.

Most people going to a shop which sells both arbitrarily defined 'essentials' and 'non-essentials' will also be buying some of the former. I guess some people might go to Tesco just to buy a 'non-essential' toaster or bottle of body lotion, but most will also buy groceries.

"Demanding rude customers" aren't suddenly going to become polite because you've put plastic over the duvets and shut even more shops.

of those 1,300+ people in our store today....roughly 1 in 8 were not wearing a mask, excluding children

That's up to your shop to enforce. Forcing other shops to close isn't going to help.

and majority were not buying essentials. watching cushions and mirrors going through the tills was pissing us all off!

It 'pisses you off' to see people buying items that your shop wants to sell them? Clearly your shop does a high proportion of its business selling "non-essentials'. Maybe people would be better off just shopping online and then they won't need to come near your shop at all. Problem solved.

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot

If primary schools are open, I need the range to be open. Vital supplies.

and thats a whole other thread.....primary schools!

[quote donewithitalltodayandxmas]@ElephantWhaleRabbit but the shops are now crowded , well supermarkets are ,whole families are going shopping , no sd , people touching everything , quite a few not in masks
I want to be able to go and see my family some time soon where I could sit the other side of the room but I can't , but instead when I go get my essential food I am put at risk with people treating shopping as a day out , a short sharp proper lockdown has got to be worth a try
Maybe let everyone bubble with one other household locally so you can have a bit of time with others not in your house
But these tiers which are still restrictive don't seem to be doing much. Maybe with a short lockdown we could really ramp up vaccinations as well as only way I can see a way of getting anywhere near normal is when we get loads vaccinated[/quote]
The thing is, leisure attractions are closed, we aren't supposed to cross local authority borders to visit places which includes outdoor country, nor should we allow our kids to meet indoors with other families. So by default the places that are open become the places that people go to.

The logic of forcing the same number of people into a combined smaller indoor space is an strange one, but I do agree that opening up more places will leave the food shops emptier for people who do just want to get their essential supplies.