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March 29, 2024, 09:56:57 AM

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non-essential shops reopening

Started by weaseldust, May 31, 2020, 12:46:58 PM

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weaseldust

this was announced a week ago but i haven't seen many people talking about it - how do you feel about non-essential shops reopening in england on 15th?

seems like some mps want to reduce the distancing rule so that it makes opening stuff easier which doesn't seem too clever. 'we can't meet the guidelines so let's change them so we can do what we want'

are you ready to go shopping again? are shops going to be really busy or completely empty?

Abnormal Palm

I hate going into shops anyway, borin, so I'll continue to have everything I need delivered.

My sister works in retail and I wish some of those MP cunts a very venty grave.


Alberon

#3
I'm getting used to doing clothes shopping online. I only went non-food shopping about once every month or so anyway so I can see it getting a lot less even when things get to the new normal.

I feel sorry for everyone who works in retail, doubly so for having to go back soon as part of Operation Distract From Dom.

weaseldust

yes i should mention that i also work in retail so i am terrified. there are no hand washing facilities apart from in a bathroom a few doors down which is shared by about 10 other shops and is never cleaned. we are expected to eat our lunch in the shop. (eight hour shift alone in very busy shop, no chair, customers coming in when you are trying to quickly eat a sandwich)

also my job is very one-on-one because it is selling jewellery - you can easily spend up to an hour with one customer searching for what they want and you have to get everything out of cabinets for them, also obviously people want to try things on like rings etc

is someone going to go to every shop in england to make sure they are meeting the guidelines? seems unlikely

in summary: might have to quit my job

flotemysost

My flatmate works in 'non-essential' retail and is bricking it about potentially having to go back in a couple of weeks, as she's also vulnerable (asthmatic) and the Tube is the only way of getting from where we live to her workplace (at least, the only way that wouldn't take several hours either trip. Walking or cycling isn't an option, sorry Boris. Sorris).

You have my sympathies/well wishes weaseldust, it must be a very uncertain time.

I'm all for supporting small business that can re-open in as safe and sustainable a way as possible in order to survive (seeing as they're unlikely to be getting sufficient help from elsewhere), but I think due to a number of factors (including, among others, social deprivation and lack of other options in many towns and cities) we do have a culture where traipsing round a shopping centre on a Saturday afternoon is a bit of a national pastime, and I think it's going to be hard to convince anyone to give that up.


Alberon

I hate crowds (and people in general, come to think of it) so I've never liked shopping.

Captain Crunch

I am really looking forward to the charity shops opening but I am worried about the staff and volunteers getting shit.   They get enough day to day without the new swarm of infection control experts wading in. 

Blue Jam

Right now I'm very glad I'm a life scientist and werk with people who all understand viral infection and have a healthy fear of the 'vid.

The canteen will be closed though, and the vending machines will be empty, so the only place we will be able to buy lunch will be in the shops inside the hospital nextdoor. The one where Covid-19 patients are being treated. Er, thanks, but there's no fucking way I'm setting foot in there. I feel sorry for the poor staff over there, they probably come into contact with enough germs as it is.

Butchers Blind

A Matalan in my town opened yesterday so not sure what the aforementioned date was for.

Cloud

I guess they have to eventually if this thing is here to stay (no guarantee we'll find a vaccine), we can't keep everything shut forever.  It'd be better to open them on a case by case basis though - have an inspection, do a star system like food hygiene (taking into account the safety of staff as well as customers) and if you get 5 stars you're allowed to open.

No way I'm setting foot in cramped places like Game just yet even if they do open and surely I'm far from the only one, so it does make you wonder how well they'll cope in terms of actually making a profit.

Quote from: Captain Crunch on May 31, 2020, 02:40:01 PM
I am really looking forward to the charity shops opening but I am worried about the staff and volunteers getting shit.   They get enough day to day without the new swarm of infection control experts wading in.
Last few years I absolutely depended on charity shops for clothes, books, toys for the kids etc. I can't see them really coming back to be honest, the elderly volunteers staffing the things won't come back, they won't be as good as money spinners because people are going to he a bit more urgh germs about second hand things.

idunnosomename

Quote from: Captain Crunch on May 31, 2020, 02:40:01 PM
I am really looking forward to the charity shops opening but I am worried about the staff and volunteers getting shit.   They get enough day to day without the new swarm of infection control experts wading in.
yeah me too. they are packed at the best of times. with smelly weirdos (not me)

Captain Crunch


Beagle 2

They might as well be open on our high street. The queues of people getting bags of chips, coffees, pizzas, DIY supplies and groceries concentrated on a pathway you need to walk down mean you've brushed past at least 50 people by the time you get to the other side. Not to mention all the dozy cunts stood around chatting on phones, smoking and holding dog leads staring into space. It's worse than just opening them up to relieve the pavement pressure, farcical. Only the elderly are wearing masks, poor bastards.

phosphoresce

I'm in retail too, it's a worry alright. My company has been surprisingly good about it all. They sent out a big well being survey a few weeks ago to assess colleague vulnerability to the virus, and they've chosen to try opening a handful of stores with teams who aren't especially vulnerable.

My position's especially awful because I live with someone shielding who's very vulnerable indeed. I myself would most likely weather it, but could, of course, pass it on to my poor loved one. Fuck knows what I'll do.

Friendly service is a big thing for us, and it's hard to imagine how we can offer the experience customers used to like. When I was doing the usual "can I help you at all" questions on the day we closed up most customers were actively avoiding me!

We've been open three weeks (fashion retail) and all the precautions in our shops went out the window after ther first few days, they're pretty much unworkable and the customers didn't give a shit to start with. Also as I predicted the stores are inundated with returns of unwanted internet purchases during the previous two months.

All the customers are expecting the items to be in sale now and that's all that's selling, pretty much all stock is reduced to a certain extent. The summer is where most stores make the lion's share of their profits so this isn't looking good for the smaller stores. I expect to see a lot of closures over the rest of 2020 as it's been a precarious sector for the last few years.

BlodwynPig

why is everyone standing for this? where is the mass action, the mass refusal to do what the government tells you? I understand that livelihoods are at risk, but so are your lives. Societal change does not come about by blind adherence to genocidal maniacs. Gotta get those blouses!

Captain Crunch

Are there really 800 people outside IKEA in Warrington? 

Butchers Blind

Quote from: Captain Crunch on June 01, 2020, 09:52:48 AM
Are there really 800 people outside IKEA in Warrington?

They've been there for weeks, just waiting.  Flatpack heaven.

Blue Jam

I think there was a BBC article about how fashion retailers might not be able to tempt germophobic shoppers back even with massive discounts on a backlog of unsold stock. I'm not so sure- there have been plenty of people like me who have been working from home on full pay and who have had nothing to spend that pay on and now have extra cash burning a hole in their pockets and a need to buy some smart new work clothes. I worry that the 15th is going to be like Black Friday.

I might put in a few orders online, do click and collect, and get in and out of the shops as fast as possible. I'd get things delivered to my home but too many clothing retailers use Hermes and I'm not taking that risk again.

Blue Jam

TK Maxx and Sports Direct will probably do well out of this. Think of all that past-season stock they can buy up and sell cheap. I bet Mike Ashley has nabbed all the Oasis and Warehouse stock already.

idunnosomename

Quote from: Captain Crunch on June 01, 2020, 09:52:48 AM
Are there really 800 people outside IKEA in Warrington?
most people are outside of the IKEA in Warrington. it is a big place but not that big.

idunnosomename

TK Maxx will just have a load of silly shit like tin hippos and storage boxes with "HOME SWEET HOME" on them in different typefaces. and half it will be on the floor. except the shirts, which will be in their own special section of the store all wrapped up in plastic for some reason

Blue Jam

I love TK Maxx and am the proud owner of a crab bell.

Sports Direct can get fucked through.

flotemysost

Quote from: Blue Jam on June 01, 2020, 01:26:43 PM
TK Maxx and Sports Direct will probably do well out of this. Think of all that past-season stock they can buy up and sell cheap. I bet Mike Ashley has nabbed all the Oasis and Warehouse stock already.

A lot of orders on stock which would have been destined for the high street are being cancelled though, apparently - so it's ending up as landfill and the factory workers aren't getting paid, which is doubly shit.

I posted this in the Non-grocery shopping thread already (so apologies for also being doubly shit), but Loststock will send you a box of rejected but brand-new clothes (based on your size, gender, age and general style) for a set price (still cheaper than the high street value), which goes direct to Bangladeshi factory workers. Don't need new clothes but I've ordered a box, if they're shit I can just use them as pyjamas or something.

Can't see TK Maxx's culture of frantic grabbing being compatible with social distancing any time soon. I'm surprised we haven't had any pandemics originate from within TK Maxx stores, to be honest.

BlodwynPig

Quote from: Blue Jam on June 01, 2020, 01:43:31 PM
I love TK Maxx and am the proud owner of a crab bell.

Sports Direct can get fucked through.

You can't have it both ways, sadly. ps.. In Newcastle they are next to each other. You can pop in when you come to play some snook.

bgmnts

That's brilliant, cheers for the link.

flotemysost

My asthmatic retail-worker flatmate's been told she has a choice of either going back to work next week (which would mean being on the Tube for a couple of hours every day) or staying at home on significantly reduced pay, with the indication that those who decide to stay home won't be deemed 'team players'.

Emailed our lettings agency, got the same response as before - the landlord's under no obligation to reduce rent, and if she does agree to do so then any outstanding balance has to be paid back either at the end of the tenancy or that old chestnut, 'when things are back to normal'.

I think she (the flatmate) will be OK financially one way or the other, as I gather her family are in a position to be able to help her out if needed, but it fucking sucks that the onus is being put on those with the most to lose, under the guise of generously giving them a choice.

Hope any retail workers on here are doing OK.

Blue Jam

Quote from: flotemysost on June 04, 2020, 11:07:35 PM
I posted this in the Non-grocery shopping thread already (so apologies for also being doubly shit), but Loststock will send you a box of rejected but brand-new clothes (based on your size, gender, age and general style) for a set price (still cheaper than the high street value), which goes direct to Bangladeshi factory workers. Don't need new clothes but I've ordered a box, if they're shit I can just use them as pyjamas or something.

Oh that sounds great, thanks for the link. 6-8 week wait time atm but I may order a box anyway. I recycle all my old clothes and hate the idea of my clothes going to landfill so this sounds good- and if the clothes aren't what I'd usually buy I could get some nice surprises too!

Also I guess that if you go for one of the older age categories you could get some decent quality stuff- Hobbs and L.K. Bennett rather than Topshop and New Look. I'll choose "dark" for the colour choice and see if I get some smart work keks. I think I'll give this a go, cheers!