'Excited' shop owners prepare to 'hit the ground running' amid anticipated busy reopening of stores

Prime minister Boris Johnson during his Downing Street press conference on Monday, confirmed that shops would be allowed to open again on April 12 as part of the government’s roadmap to open up the country again.

After being forced to close their doors amid a surge in coronavirus cases, shop owners are now thrilled to get back to business as they prepare for the latest re-start.

Alexandra Bishop, who owns Pastry Corner in Grove Road, Southsea, said: ‘I’m so excited to be able to open again and have things feel more normal again.

‘We only opened in November so it will feel like we are opening for the first time again. We were only open for a few weeks so it just felt like a trial run.

‘We have sorted our staff and are lucky that we have been able to take on a girl and a guy at a time when most people aren’t employing.

‘We have been doing a lot of deep cleaning and touching things up with painting.

‘We had a nicely chaotic Saturday with lots of pre-orders for our click and collect and had queues of people hoping to get spares so that bodes well for the reopening.

‘People have been missing the hustle and bustle of shopping. I have feelings it will be good.’

Timothy Childs, owner of Southsea Tattoo on Albert Road, said: ‘It’s been a long time so we’re excited to be back.

‘This has to be the last lockdown because I don’t think many businesses will be able to cope with another.

‘I have a lot of customers to contact from our backlog and will be back on Wednesday to start getting things ready.

‘We will have studio rules such as only allowing one person in at a time for their appointment.

‘We’ve had so many people contacting us so we will have to try and cater for our existing customers and new ones.

‘It’s going to be busy and we will have to hit the ground running.’

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Crystal Young, owner of baby clothing store Button Up Baby on North Street, Havant, said: ‘We are very excited and grateful to be reopening and hopefully recoup some losses.

‘I feel optimistic, I think people are desperate to get out to the shops after all this time. There is a shop local vibe going on.

‘A lot of people are saying they cannot wait. Hopefully we have lots of people queuing outside.

‘I’ve got an unbelievable amount of stock, it is overflowing. It will be fantastic to reopen and start selling stuff. I think people have missed their retail therapy.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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