Lockdown - essential shopping?

I was wondering why our Waterstone's is still open. Books are important but hardly essential.Oh ! and the Christmas shop is open too. Our garden centre is selling everything from clothes to decorations. I agree it is unfair on those who have to close.

Totally agree. It is the local small shops that are suffering. In my small town ALL the supermarkets, diy store etc are open but the lovely small individual shops are not. Rather unfair.

I don't understand the difference surely books would be one of the biggest sources of spreading the virus I can't imagine the books being sanitised after being picked up by customers ?

Absolutely glammanana. Ours is only a small town but the three times I have driven past this shop there have been no customers at all which further suggests that they are opening unnecessarily.

A sewing and crafts shop is open in our town. I’ve no objection to this personally, but essential - not really.

Waterstones are providing click and collect service, as far as I am aware you cannot go in and browse

This lockdown doesn't feel like the first lockdown, there seems to be a vast amount of traffic on the roads and I am wondering were they are all going.

I bought a jumper in Asda and a pack of hi legs today
We have a pawn shop in town open I thought that a bit strange

Glammanana I don’t imagine every packet or box or tub is sanypitised in the supermarkets either no diffetent to a book cover

BlueBelle

I bought a jumper in Asda and a pack of hi legs today
We have a pawn shop in town open I thought that a bit strange

Sadly for some families a pawn shop may be very essential.

My local M&S is open too, and selling clothes. I don't see the harm, really. If someone is in there buying food, what harm can it do if they pick up a pack of socks or something and pay for them at the till with the foodstuffs? I take the point about small retailers having to close, but so do large shops that don't sell food.

My bedroom TV (I know, not essential) is on the blink, and I looked online for a replacement, as I am fully locked down and have been since March. There are virtually none to be had, which puzzled me at first, until the penny dropped that the factories would probably be furloughed, and the imported ones wouldn't be getting through.

If someone lived alone, and it was the only TV in the house, I would say it was fairly essential to get a new one, whether to watch the government updates, as entertainment, or just as another voice in the house. The impact of living alone, confined to the house with no TV could be quite serious - I know my mum watches far more these days than she did before lockdown. One person's essential is someone else's frivolous, which is true of a lot of items.

Our large Poundland is open. Not sure why. I would think a small independent shop with one or two customers at any one time would be far safer than a large supermarket or pound shop.

Hotel chocolat is open. Ryman’s stationers is too. Roads are busy. It’s definitely Lockdown Lite.
(But no tennis.....grrr)

My M&S has closed off the top floors, but moved some of the clothing down to the ground floor; which is still open because of the Food Hall.

In the first lockdown many of us were making facemasks and headbands so sewing materials were certainly essential. It all seem so illogical - if the first lockdown didn't fully succeed why have a second? I believe the numbers were already falling anyway. Some of our small shops may never reopen.

I still dont understand why people are not just shopping as quickly as they can as few times as they can. To go browsing around shops whether in lockdown or not seems ridiculous to me at the moment.

Even if people are visiting stores like M&S for food shopping, then go to the clothes etc it means they are mixing with more people and spending longer in store. Plus what's stopping people just going in for non food shopping. Sadly I dont think the current restrictions will reduce the rate of infection as much as hoped.

Was talking about this only yesterday. It does seem unfair on smaller, often independent shops. In lockdown 1, I could walk in the middle of the A49 without being hit by a vehicle. In lockdown 2 there is masses of traffic both commercial and personal. I fear little towns will be brought to their knees unless we do more buying local.

My local supermarket has the clothing area roped off. I am in France, we are in lockdown and have to complete and carry a document (attestation) to leave our home even for a walk.
We noticed that the day before our lockdown that the DIY stores were rammed even though they are considered essential here.

TBH I would welcome any shops open.
Our local WH Smith is open as they sell newspapers apparently they are allowed to stay open.

I don't actually agree with this second Lockdown. I lost my new job in the first Lockdown so have faced the brutal reality of my finances crashing and now being in debt. I work with racehorses and have now found a new job at a different stables since August but am worried about that now. I don't have the energy to get upset about whether clothes are being bought in M&S or not or the ins and outs of this Lockdown...

lovebeigecardigans

I had not thought about facemasks, so can see how sewing is classed as essential. Being a non sewer myself, had not occurred to me.

For the owners of small independent shops it seems to me that their staying open is essential but it doesn't appear to work like that!

It is so unfair on small businesses. Why can the likes of M&S, The Range, Waterstones, etc sell everything when we are told that we can only shop for essentials? Bending the rules again.