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THE WEEK IN RETAIL ISSUE 7
EDITOR’S COMMENT
THE FIRST STEPS ON A LONG AND WINDING ROAD
And so it begins. We’ve been in lockdown so long it’s starting to feel normal, but last week saw the first significant steps towards easing ourselves out of our strange new world order and back to something that more closely resembles what we used to call normal. Both north and south of the border the restrictions have been ever so slightly eased with Sturgeon once again taking a more cautious approach than Johnson.
It seems like the general public have taken to it like ducks to water if the much-publicised photographs in the mainstream media of packed beaches and public parks over the weekend are anything to go by. There was always going to be a bit of a rammy when people were finally allowed to meet up again, but the situation certainly wasn’t helped by the whole Dominic Cummings shambles. It’s not hard to understand why many people decided that if the rules don’t apply to Dominic then they don’t apply to me either.
What’s harder to understand is why risking undermining the entire ‘stay home, stay safe’ public health message was less important to Boris than saving the career of a single very dubious character. Politics is indeed a murky business.
So the planned gentle easing of lockdown restrictions has turned out to be not quite so gentle. The big question for us is: what impact will this have on c-stores? Convenience has stolen the show in the last few months, with Kantar figures showing that sales in the sector were up over 85% in a single four-week period recently. Will shoppers return to the supermarkets in droves? If they do so, when will it happen – and how gradually? And how much of the new custom will local retailers retain in the future?
Most retailers I’ve spoken to believe that it will be many months before the coronavirus effect wears off. Dumfriesshire retailer Graham Watson, for instance, reckons local retailers will still be seeing inflated sales at Christmas. Whether he’s right or not will depend on a lot of factors, but it seems obvious that local retail is being seen in a new and positive light – and not before time.
