England back in business – Not just yet!

Following our report yesterday on shops getting ready to open on 1st June we speak to some indie retailers who are taking a more softly-softly approach: partial opening hours, fewer days or in fact holding out on announcing any reopening date. It is not difficult to see why reservations and restraints make the decision to open fraught with difficulty. Whilst the larger department stores and big online retailers are already slashing prices for online shopping with up to 50% discounts, it is a problem for independents who are sitting on heavy stocks of swimwear when the season has more or less passed them by.

Underlines chats with shop-owners in diverse geographical locations: Jackie Upton (Sheen Uncovered of East Sheen), Karen Forbes (The Little Big Bra Shop in Market Harborough), Deborah Heeley (The Fitting Room, Ilkley) and Marjorie Thompson (Chantilly of Rochdale).

Karen summarises her issues with an early reopening: “I am of the view that our USP is fitting which will be more or less impossible with social distancing in place. I wonder if our industry is more in line with hairdressing and beauty due to the close proximity required when advising customers? There is so much to think about it is very overwhelming – am unsure if customers will want to come to the shop at all just yet.”

Jackie and Deborah both intend to open on 3rd June but with fewer days and shorter hours than previously to help test the appetite of shoppers. Jackie says her key concern is “having enough customers to justify the overheads and expense of opening – I am happy that we can manage the social distancing and safety standards. We already have supplies of masks, gloves and hand wash as it is essential that customers feel confident and comfortable with the measures we have put in place.”

With available floor and fitting space in smaller outlets at a premium, most will work on an appointments system when they open. Marjorie who is not planning on opening Chantilly in the first week of June says it would be necessary to limit the number of customers in the shop at any one time. “We are in a COVID hot spot in the North West so I must wait to see how things unfold. I need to protect my loyal staff and my customers so we will have all safety items ready to go when I feel we can open. We will have to clean after every customer in every way – hand gel, wiping tape measures, counters, fitting rooms and card terminals if we cannot do contactless for the value of the purchase. It’s going to be a nightmare!”

Most agreed that there had been no official guidelines from government that bore much relevance to the nature of their business – Karen comments: “I have not had anything but have been aligning what we would do to hair and beauty salons as I mentioned. I don’t even know if that is right or wrong but at least I would be more comfortable with that. Likewise I am worried about the hygiene aspect concerning garments. The shop is relatively easy but you cannot wash garments with labels on! Would love to know what other shop-owners are going to do and have they a workable solution?”

The common sense approach voiced by most owners was that it would be necessary to withdraw the stock from sale that had been tried on for a period of at least three days. Deborah states that she will open only 4 days a week so the ‘resting’ 3 days would allow stock to be hung and decontaminated.

Jackie’s approach is to set up appointments of 45 minutes with 15 minutes in between each customer and that as she knows her customer base well, she would edit choices before they even turn up at the shop. “We are hoping to offer customers an edited range; therefore cutting down on trying on too many items and we have spare rails to hang garments so they can be aired.”

Deborah’s approach is slightly different: “Customers will be served rather than being allowed to go around the shop. Masks for everyone and I am going to reduce the stock on the actual shop floor and bring out what is necessary to the customer. Goods tried on but not bought will go to the back of the shop until a safe time has elapsed.”

Karen is an owner who is on furlough and worries that if she opens prematurely, she will lose salaries not just for herself but also her staff and there will not be enough floor sales to cover the shortfall. Likewise she says she worries about supply. “Once I open I am worried about taking in any of the season orders… I will have to work with my suppliers of course but equally we may have to cancel or reduce some to protect our cash flow.” Certainly contactless, PayPal and other forms of contact free payment will be stepped up to reduce risks of transmission. Digital sales are also part of their plans going ahead despite being primarily bricks and mortar outlets.

Sheen Uncovered and Chantilly both have active transactional websites and in some cases have been able to do specific orders by hand delivery or a click and collect service, although the downside is refunds and exchanges when they happen. Marjorie comments: “The customers that I have spoken to are all saying that they have no desire to physically go shopping in the near future. In reality, nothing is going to change until there is a cure or a vaccine.”

The Fitting Room and The Little Big Bra Shop do not enjoy much turnover from online sales but will be upping their presence digitally and maximising their social media channels, but that would be to complement their bricks and mortar site.

Jackie thinks that the need for bra fitting skilled professionals has never been higher and there are challenges to fulfilling this need. “This will be hard for individual boutiques and we will need industry support and I am not sure we have it. The lock down has reinforced my belief that you cannot introduce a consumer to a new size, fit shape and style of bra online! Professional retail needs to totally rethink, rightly or wrongly; online and virtual bra fitting will be much more relevant to the consumer now so we have to be ready to deal with that.”