non-essential shops reopening

[Pink Gregory]

Is there really enough demand for retail to open non-essential stuff so early?

is the resultant lack of trade and therefore closure of businesses no going to cause more strain on social security and the economy?

I feel like that's been answered already.

[flotemysost]

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!

No worries! Ha, I went for a slightly younger age bracket (well, 25-30 - I've been 31 for just over a month now, so not too much of a stretch) because I'm getting sick of living in slouchy clothes and can't wait to go out again when the time comes, although I realise I'll probably be 51 by the time that happens.

[lazyhour]

I am in the unenviable position of owning my own shop (a record shop, the very definition of inessential) and having to decide what the fuck to do in terms of balancing customer safety (not to mention my own) and not going out of business. I'm kind of frozen right now, watching the news all day every day and trying to pick up clues.

To be honest, I'm kind of waiting for the R to be confirmed to be above 1 for the whole country so I can justify not reopening yet. Kind of making the decision for me. The whole thing is so stressful.

[Captain Crunch]

Yes.  And more stressful as the gov website and the HSE website seem to have got tangled into some pointless click loop, I expected Rick Astley to turn up any minute.  Alcumus have done a fair job of rolling up the key points into one doc:

https://www.alcumusgroup.com/health-and-safety-and-coronavirus

Do you have a trade association or business network you can call on?  Or even a BID? 

[lazyhour]

We have a local BID. I should see what they have to say. Not been especially impressed with them since they started, though.

[Captain Crunch]

They vary don't they, some are a real asset, others are just a waste of time.  Shout if you get stuck. 

[Attila]

And the ice cream van just made a loop through our street (first time I've heard him out and about since last summer -- he usually races through here, Teddy Bear Picnic sounding like a 33 1 /3 played at 78rpm, then parks up in a little layby, hunkered down at the wheel playing on his phone.

He's like some sort of elusive ghost that you catch only fleeting glimpses of out of the corner of your eye.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Would like to go back to charity shops instead of using Amazon to get books but I would feel uneasy going in a charity shop at the moment. I do wonder how many volunteers won't be able to go back as they are shielding, and as a result they might struggle to have enough people to maintain social distancing. Some volunteers might have to look after their children as well. Might give it a couple of weeks.

[flotemysost]

^ I only very recently discovered that you can buy second-hand donations from Oxfam (including books) through their website: https://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop

I was on their website anyway as I've been buying some of their Sourced By Oxfam stuff (wanted a throw for my chair to protect it from the onslaught of my working-from-home arse, but didn't want to be endlessly ordering shit from Amazon/Argos/Ikea), but had no idea you could still buy non-new stuff too.

The British Heart Foundation have re-opened their eBay store too: http://www.ebaystores.co.uk/British-Heart-Foundation-Shop

If you're after anything specific but wanted to avoid Amazon, you might already know this but Hive allows you to support your choice of local bookseller.

I've got mixed feelings about Waterstones at the moment, given their recent track record of not paying staff a living wage and now making them go back into work.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Would like to go back to charity shops instead of using Amazon to get books but I would feel uneasy going in a charity shop at the moment. I do wonder how many volunteers won't be able to go back as they are shielding, and as a result they might struggle to have enough people to maintain social distancing. Some volunteers might have to look after their children as well. Might give it a couple of weeks.

Abe Books is ok. I think it's owned by amazon but there's a lot of charity shop and revoked library stock on there. Oxfam also sell online.

https://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/books

[bgmnts]

Would like to go back to charity shops instead of using Amazon to get books but I would feel uneasy going in a charity shop at the moment. I do wonder how many volunteers won't be able to go back as they are shielding, and as a result they might struggle to have enough people to maintain social distancing. Some volunteers might have to look after their children as well. Might give it a couple of weeks.

Public library? Community centres sometimes have books too.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I walked past my local Age UK yesterday and felt genuine happiness when I saw a sign on the window saying it was reopening on Monday, it's staffed by two strapping men (one in his thirties, the other late forties) so I don't have to worry about killing anyone either. It's possibly a bit sad that such a thing cheered me up, but it means cheap books and ladies underwear so I just don't care what others think.

[imitationleather]

Apparently the assistant manager of my girlfriend's charity shop is proper dragging his feet about going back. Doesn't reckon it's safe or something. Maybe it is time for me to step up, take his job and become the Posh and Becks of the Newcastle charity shop scene!?

[flotemysost]

Obsessed with looking at donated stuff on the Oxfam site now.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Apparently the assistant manager of my girlfriend's charity shop is proper dragging his feet about going back. Doesn't reckon it's safe or something. Maybe it is time for me to step up, take his job and become the Posh and Becks of the Newcastle charity shop scene!?

My Sister's the manager of a little charity shop in Surrey and has been told she doesn't have to reopen yet, it's staffed by people with learning disabilities but of the younger variety, so getting volunteers shouldn't technically be an issue, but the charity bosses just feel it's too soon.

[Captain Crunch]

I think Shirley from Caerphilly has got the celebrity charity shop thing sewn up for now. 

I've seen updates from Bookbarn, Barter Books and Daisy Chain so far, all either open already or opening next week, hope it goes well for them.

lazyhour how are you getting on?  Just seen an update saying Flashback Records are opening on Tuesday, have you decided yet?

[Icehaven]

Public library?

All still currently closed.

[Sebastian Cobb]

i think some are still lending ebooks, if that's your bag.

[olliebean]

https://www.overdrive.com/libraries is the place to look to find out if your library does ebook lending. Search for the name of the library or find it on the map.

[Icehaven]

Obviously it'll vary across the country but in Birmingham there might be some libraries doing a click and collect service from next month, but it's likely to be September before any are properly open again. A few weeks ago I had a virtual meeting with my boss and her boss, who's the main head of library services, and she's very cautious about reopening too soon, particularly while so many other things are still closed as they could be overrun. A lot of my colleagues in regular libraries have been doing a lot of online stuff, making story videos for kids and putting book reviews up etc., and they're still doing phone enquiries. My library's customers don't (theoretically...) use the internet and we can't contact them directly so we're a bit stuck for what we can do for them really, I've made loads of short story booklets and puzzle sheets and emailed them to staff still on site but other than that we're a bit useless at the moment.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Can your customers reserve books from other local libraries and get them in shipped in (like one does in a normal council library) or is it just what's been approved in the prison library?

[Gurke and Hare]

Obsessed with looking at donated stuff on the Oxfam site now.

Would absolutely pay a couple of quid for that if I saw it in Oxfam.

[Icehaven]

Can your customers reserve books from other local libraries and get them in shipped in (like one does in a normal council library) or is it just what's been approved in the prison library?

No because we're funded separately (by the MoJ) so we don't exchange stock with the other local libraries (even though we're still run by the council). In normal times they can ask for pretty much any book and I'll get it as long as our suppliers have it. There's not really that many restrictions apart from the obvious (Firearms for Dummies, Jihad 101 etc.) although there is a list of restricted books (most of which are fairly obscure anyway) and occasionally we get asked by security/other departments to keep an eye on what someone in particular is reading. In the last few years we've had a number of members of a banned far right group in (think there was a thread on here about them) who would ask for books on certain ideologies or social theories and so on that was a bit tricky to navigate, but I have to defer the decision to the security dept. if I'm unsure so it's not as if I personally have to decide what people can or can't read. Don't think I'd be comfortable doing that directly.

[Indomitable Spirit]

Just had a wander around Leeds City Centre on my lunch break and it's just as busy as it typically would be on a weekday pre-lockdown.

There's an insane queue outside Sports Direct of about 200 people, the structural underpinnings of which are so volatile they're having to employ four security guards to keep it from collapse. It's actually so long they've had to snake it over the fucking road and down the side of the Sainsburys opposite the St John's Centre.

Absolute Dawn of the Dead shit.

[greencalx]

Christ. First day shops are open in three months and the first place people go is fecking Sports Direct.

[MojoJojo]

Be fair - if they buy their clothes from sports direct it's a miracle any of their clothes are still holding together after three months.

[Huxleys Babkins]

Need to look at fridges in Currys. Was hoping to pop in after work, but they are shutting at 5. Why even bother opening if most people who are earning can't actually get into the store? Seems less like a viable business and more like a tech museum for bored people on furlough.

[Blue Jam]

Christ. First day shops are open in three months and the first place people go is fecking Sports Direct.

See also: plenty of nice independent takeaways having been open this whole time but two-hour queues forming when McDonald's drive-thrus reopen.

[Blue Jam]

Queues outside Primark too apparently. Fucking hell, Primark is terrifying at the best of times.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Reports of Bicester Village being rammed today. Isn't it mainly expensive clothes?