Shopping’s No Fun If You Can’t Try On the Clothes
It will be a logistical nightmare to reopen stores and restaurants. We'll be getting by on carryouts and click-and-collect shopping for a while.
To go, please.
Photographer: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Lockdowns have devastated retailers and restaurants on both sides of the Atlantic. An easing of restrictions won’t be the magic wand that waves their worries away.
Even when it’s possible for consumers to walk freely into their favorite shops and bars, they may be nervous about doing so. That puts the onus on retailers to make their locations as reassuring as possible. There’s a range of things they can do, from installing stations dispensing hand sanitizer with a wave, establishing distance markers to keep shoppers safely away from each other, and even altering store layouts to keep patrons from crossing paths. Dressing rooms are likely to remain closed for the foreseeable future.