Shop owners along Albert Road in Southsea call on residents to support local shops

Shoppers remain ‘very cautious’, according Albert Road Traders Association chairwoman Jenni Catlow, with shopkeepers facing increasing challenges as more of the country reopens.

The 65-year-old said: ‘It hasn’t been business as usual. I think people are taking it very cautiously.

‘The main problem is when students come back – they feel less vulnerable than others because of their age, and they will be coming back from all around the country.

‘So there are some concerns about the virus spreading.’

And the trader, who owns the Tango Tea Collectables antique shop in Albert Road, said reopening the large number of pubs along the road is unlikely to increase trade – and may require closing the road to traffic.

She said: ‘It doesn’t make a big different to footfall whether the pubs are open or closed.

‘But the road may need to be closed if people are being told to drink outside.’

But Wendy Budd, who has run Budd's Herbal Apothecary for seven years, said the area needed its student population to return and for bars and restaurants to open their doors.

The 40-year old said: ‘The students going home has made a huge difference. They bring a lot of trade to the area.

‘The cafes and restaurants closing has also had a massive impact.

‘Compared to the rest of lockdown, it’s still quiet.

‘Trade has gone down by 80 per cent since the lockdown.’

The shop owners have voiced their concerns as The News calls on its readers to support their local businesses, as their owners try to bounce back from trade lost during the nationwide lockdown.

Shop owner Kathy Langford – whose family set up Langford Antiques in 1982 – said the area ‘feels very different’ since non-essential shops have been allowed to reopen.

She said: ‘We have been nowhere near as busy as normal.

‘We would normally have up to 30 people on here at a time on a Saturday.

‘A few people have come in – but people are wary.’

The owner of Soundz record store, Julie Kelly, agreed the area did not feel like it was ‘back to normal’.

She said: ‘It’s going to take a bit of time.’

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