The Government’s official 50-page guideline released this week for getting Britain back to work, says that “non-essential” stores, such as fashion retailers, may be able to reopen from June 1st, provided that social distancing measures and the correct level of sanitation have been put in place. What does that really mean? When will they be ready? And how will it feel to venture into your favourite retail haunts when their look and mood has dramatically changed?
The socially undistanced queues outside some French branches of Zara last week suggest that some shoppers strongly disagree with their government’s definition of non-essential. You have to wonder what they can get in store that they haven’t been able to buy from the brand’s website, which has been functioning throughout lockdown – other than the visceral instant gratification of trying something on and taking it home.
In the UK, management consulting firm BCG
