non-essential shops reopening

[Attila]

The two shops I'd like to visit again in London, if I'm ever able to get up there again, are a vintage clothing shop in Covent Garden, and a 2nd hand clothing shop out in Notting Hill. Under present rules and regs, I don't see how either of these two indie shops could be open any time soon. Both are jam=packed with clothing rails, and because it's all vintage, there's no way I'd buy anything from them if I couldn't try stuff on. I'm hoping they survive the economic situation (both have been around for decades) so that if/when it's ok to shop freely again, they can reopen.

I've no interest in even trying to shop live for anything right now aside from queuing up at the supermarket every week; when I have my little shopping visits to London at xmas, or when fiddling around on a trip, I like to wander about and dip in and out of the little shops. Having to queue up for each and every rando peek in a shop* at the moment would take all of the pleasure out of it, so I'd rather stay away and stay safe.


*Plus the idea of one-way systems in certain shops puts me off -- I used to like going to Snoopers Paradise in Brighton, and that involves so much backtracking and wandering around, that having to go in a particular pathway wouldn't be much fun...I miss charity shops, as well -- I had bags of stuff to take to our local one just before the lockdown came, so I missed my window by about three days.

[flotemysost]

Quite a few outdoor markets in London re-opened last weekend (crafty antiquey type stuff, as well as food and drink) - I went to one near me on Saturday which seemed to have a pretty organised one-way system and multiple hand sanitiser dispensing points, but none of the customers seemed arsed about distancing and not many stallholders were wearing masks.

I did see a pass-agg post from a recent mother on twitter pointing out a lot of it could be recent parents 'cos kids grow quick and even a few quid between primark and h&m makes a difference when they're just going to outgrow stuff and poo in it.

Not sure it is though. Probably the same thrifty, yet desperate consumers that get up at the crack of dawn for the sales on boxing day.

I'm inclined not to pass too much judgement on people rushing back to cheap retailers. If they really were just desperate for a hit of consumer dopamine then it's still been possible to buy stuff online, but if you've got a growing kid and a limited budget then I can imagine three months is potentially a long time not to be able to buy stuff where you can see how big it is in front of you - I'm not sure how reliable high street kid's clothes sizing is, presumably pretty variable if it's anything like adult clothing.

Having said that, I do still stand by this

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.

I think it's less about individual thriftiness, more a culture that celebrates the idea of procuring bargains and savings as personal victories, rather than a sinister by-product of disenfranchisement.

[Twit 2]

The junkies were still there though, fucking cockroaches.

I don't really give two fucks about their back stories, life is full of decisions, and these cunts have yet to make a positive one.

I've had to put up with these cunts for decades, begging, openly dealing and injecting drugs, harassing people, gouching, fighting, causing trouble and generally being a fucking cancer on the City.

No thanks, get them to fuck.

Genuinely some of the most unpleasant stuff I've read on these forums. Really hope you're not serious.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Quite a few outdoor markets in London re-opened last weekend (crafty antiquey type stuff, as well as food and drink) - I went to one near me on Saturday which seemed to have a pretty organised one-way system and multiple hand sanitiser dispensing points, but none of the customers seemed arsed about distancing and not many stallholders were wearing masks.

I'm inclined not to pass too much judgement on people rushing back to cheap retailers. If they really were just desperate for a hit of consumer dopamine then it's still been possible to buy stuff online, but if you've got a growing kid and a limited budget then I can imagine three months is potentially a long time not to be able to buy stuff where you can see how big it is in front of you - I'm not sure how reliable high street kid's clothes sizing is, presumably pretty variable if it's anything like adult clothing.

Having said that, I do still stand by this

I think it's less about individual thriftiness, more a culture that celebrates the idea of procuring bargains and savings as personal victories, rather than a sinister by-product of disenfranchisement.

I'm not passing too much judgement and the kid point is something I hadn't thought of which is why I posted it. I think you're right that culture conditions people to be drawn to sales (often manufactured ones) like moths to a flame.

[Captain Crunch]

Excellent.  I need to go to an office on Thursday so I'm going to have a mooch round the town and see how it's going.

Interesting.  Fair queues outside Heron and Iceland, bookies mad busy and nothing else open, no charity shops and not even Greggs! 

[imitationleather]

My girlfriend said it looked like only her shop (Red Cross) was getting ready to open. They're going to be allowing five customers in at a time.

[Chedney Honks]

Haha sounds like the customers will be in the right place

[Blue Jam]

I went to the mall in Walthamstow today and most shops had a couple of people in it, but no queues, until I got to TK Maxx (or to be precise, about fifty foot away from TX Maxx) and the queue was ridiculously long, a good sixty or so people all desperate to get in.

I'm in a certain Facebook group where people post photos of all the mad shit they find in TK Maxx and it looks like they've got a huge amount of stock to get rid of and some huge b@rgains- designer shoes for £2 a pair, armchairs for £15, that kind of thing. Also due to the nature of that shop they've probably acquired a ton of new stock from other places that were also dying to get rid of it.

I'd be quite tempted to queue up myself but I think I'm going to stay away from clothes shops until social distancing is over.

[Head Gardener]

in Northampton right now only Extra Care have 2 shops open across town but all the other chazzers are still shut, the tip shop was open yesterday but I wouldn't class it as a charity shop

[Brundle-Fly]

in Northampton right now only Extra Care have 2 shops open across town but all the other chazzers are still shut, the tip shop was open yesterday but I wouldn't class it as a charity shop

The chazzers are going to be overwhelmed with donations this coming month I would have thought. Round my way loads of homes have left stuff on their front wall. I was nearly tempted to take the water-damaged VHS copy of Amelie from a neighbour's porch yesterday.

[imitationleather]

I was nearly tempted to take the water-damaged VHS copy of Amelie from a neighbour's porch yesterday.

That wasn't water.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I'm in a certain Facebook group where people post photos of all the mad shit they find in TK Maxx and it looks like they've got a huge amount of stock to get rid of and some huge b@rgains- designer shoes for £2 a pair, armchairs for £15, that kind of thing. Also due to the nature of that shop they've probably acquired a ton of new stock from other places that were also dying to get rid of it.

I'd be quite tempted to queue up myself but I think I'm going to stay away from clothes shops until social distancing is over.

Blimey, I had no idea they sold such a range of things, I'd not been paying attention clearly as I always thought it was mainly clothes. Not going to queue for half an hour to get in to one still, but if there's ever a time the queue is all but non-existant I'll have to pop in.

[Blue Jam]

Yeah, TK Maxx/Homesense are great for housal stuff like towel sets and bed linen and kitchen items, you can get some good quality stuff really cheaply just because it's past-season. They always seem to have cheap Le Creuset stuff if you're into that, all reduced purely because it's in last season's colours, plus nice professional-quality pans and chef's knives and things.

I get most of my clothes there, especially in winter because they always have cheap cashmere and merino jumpers in, and I got a really good winter coat there that was properly warm and waterproof and saw me through five proper Scottish winters and cost me just £80. It's not great if you're after something really specific (apart from perhaps jeans and trainers) but it's great for browsing if like me you prefer to buy stuff on impulse.

The chazzers are going to be overwhelmed with donations this coming month I would have thought. Round my way loads of homes have left stuff on their front wall. I was nearly tempted to take the water-damaged VHS copy of Amelie from a neighbour's porch yesterday.

One of my neighbours has left a box of books in their porch with a "Want something to read during lockdown? Please take a book!" sign. I've got a huge bag of clothes I need to take to H&M or TK Maxx for recycling (clothes that are too old and worn for the chazzers) but I expect there'll be a backlog there too.

[Icehaven]

We went out for a brief spin on Mr. H's bike a few days ago and stopped in a retail park car park for a break, and there was an enormous queue outside a shop called Smyth's, which I'd not heard of but apparently it's a toy shop. I was surprised given it was about 5pm, but I guess some kids are back at school now.

[Cloud]

Had a tentative peek in some of the shops today.  It was alright.  Places were quiet (as they were before, because the high street is dead and I have no idea how these shops stay open) and things like social distancing and one way systems were rife.

Cex seemed to have socially distanced all the products on the window shelves, which was kind of cute.  Or they ran out of stock after selling it all online.  They had hand sanitiser on entry (making everyone more hygienic than the usual Cex customer EH LADS) and had rearranged everything inside to be surprisingly spacious.

Not sure if B&M were already open as they sell food, but had a super strict one way system that actually made it hard to get out when they didn't have what I wanted.

[Ray Travez]

Yeah, B&M's been open right through. Went in there for silicone a few weeks back but the shelves were stripped of any DIY stuff.

I hate one-way systems, especially in the small shops where you get stuck behind ditherers. I'm going to have to change the way I shop permanently. Hate being slowed down, and I take it almost as a personal affront to have to queue to get into some shitty supermarket.

Car boot near me for the first time since March.

[lazyhour]

So, we did it. Half-hour slots, booked in advance. Everyone happy to sanitize their hands on entry and wear masks or face coverings on entry. No one freaked out or was a dick. What a relief!

[Icehaven]

So, we did it. Half-hour slots, booked in advance. Everyone happy to sanitize their hands on entry and wear masks or face coverings on entry. No one freaked out or was a dick. What a relief!

What non essential purchases did they make?

[lazyhour]

What non essential purchases did they make?

Vinyl records and comic books!

[Icehaven]

Vinyl records and comic books!

I meant which ones!

[Uncle TechTip]

So, we did it. Half-hour slots, booked in advance. Everyone happy to sanitize their hands on entry and wear masks or face coverings on entry. No one freaked out or was a dick. What a relief!

Would you get mad if i booked a slot, browsed for 30 minutes then left because i couldn't find anything i wanted? The pressure on the consumer here is enormous.

[lazyhour]

No, not at all. We even said to several of the people who came in that we didn't care of they didn't buy anything, and they mustn't feel that they have to buy something for the sake of it.

But then, that's our attitude all of the time and I'd like to think all of our regulars and semi-regulars knew that already. We've never pushed people to buy stuff.

[olliebean]

Yeah, I see what you're doing with your reverse psychology.

[lazyhour]

Fuck, well and truly rumbled.

[weaseldust]

never mind lol