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10
Jun 2020
https://youtu.be/eZ9teCldAWA
Will shoppers return to the high street on Monday?
Since the lockdown easing was revealed by the Prime Minister, a number of major and independent outlets have already announced that their doors will be open on June 15.
But once shops are open and the store lights are on, the focus will shift to how customers react after 10 weeks of closure and increasingly more people shopping online.
The Stray Ferret went around the district and asked people in town centres whether they were uneasy about returning to shops.
Sandra Watkins, from Harrogate, said she was concerned with younger people and whether they would be mindful when shops reopen.
Some smaller traders do not expect customers to be stepping through their doors immediately, but bigger retailers have a challenge.
Shop space which once saw customers move freely around will be altered by one way systems, two metre distances and limited customers.
Esther Pugh, a retail expert at Leeds Beckett University, said the experience of shopping will be changed by social distancing, but added that she remained optimistic about customers returning to the high street.
Tomorrow, we will report on what is being done to entice shoppers back onto Harrogate’s high street and into retail stores.
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