Chichester business owners share their hopes and fears as they prepare to reopen

Non-essential retailers can welcome customers again from Monday, June 15, the Government announced earlier this week – as long as social distancing guidelines are followed.

Businesses have already been working hard to establish new in-store processes in order to keep staff and customers safe.

For Joanne Price, owner of the Lunch Box in Cooper Street, Chichester, this has meant investing hard work and money into building a new collection hatch at the premises.

It means visitors to the small shop can go inside to make their order one by one, then wait outside to pick it up from the hatch.

“We want people to come back knowing that they are safe,” she said.

Joanne was forced to close the business on Saturday, March 21, because social distancing was not possible, but is now ready to serve customers safely again and will be reopening on Monday (June 1).

“We are going to go for it,” she said. “We don’t know if it will work or not. Chichester is still quite quiet at the moment, but we will see.”

She said the majority of customers to the Lunch Box were office workers popping in on their lunch break – many of whom will still be working from home.

“I think it’s going to be slow to start, and hopefully it will gradually get better and better,” she said.

Fortunately, Joanne was able to furlough her staff during the lockdown and they are now ‘raring to go’ again. “Two months is a long time,” she said. “It’s nice to get back to normal.”

Her message to shoppers was that small independent businesses ‘massively need help at this time’.

“It’s been a really hard time,” she said. “I would encourage people to use them or lose them.”

Over in South Street, owners Adrian Marden and Dave Hockridge have been busy adapting Present Surprise to make it safe for customers’ return on June 15.

A screen is in place at the till and there is hand sanitiser set up by the door.

They will also be putting down tape to encourage people to travel around the shop in a clockwise direction, and will be advising customers to wear masks and avoid touching stock unnecessarily.

A lot of people were undoubtedly going to be ‘very wary’ about shopping again, but the pair said: “People can be assured that when they come in, it will be a safe environment.”

The post-lockdown shopping experience was going to be ‘hugely different for people’, they said.

“It’s going to be a change for people who are used to wandering around the high street with their friends, they will have to stick to family groups,” they said.

In the first few weeks, they said they were not expecting the takings at the shop to be ‘brilliant’.

Regular customers to Present Surprise tended to be people in their 60s or 70s, who may well be shielding at home, they said.

“I suppose a lot of them are being told to stay away [from the shops],” they said. “But there will be some who are desperate to get out.”

They said their message to local residents was straightforward: “Shop local, and support your local community.”

For Kelly Mitchell, the owner of Cherry Vintage in Jay Walk, St Martins Street, one of the biggest differences when she reopens on June 16 will be having to keep the changing room closed.

“It’s going be trick without people trying things on,” she said. “I always encourage people to try things on so it’s weird for me.”

Kelly, who opened her business in October last year, made the decision to shut in February because it was ‘so quiet’ in the city centre.

From her shop, she watched people rushing into M&S and panic buying, and said: “Clothes were not on their mind.”

It was a relief when the Government ordered non-essential shops to close in mid-March, she said, as it meant she was then entitled to support.

During the lockdown, she has been able to continue selling vintage clothes online and said it had been ‘pretty busy’.

Even once she opens again, with only one person permitted inside the shop at a time and hand sanitiser available, she expects to see more people using the click and collect service, as she said: “People can just pop in without spending too much time in the shop.”

She said she had already noticed the city centre becoming busier. “I think people want to go out now,” she said.

But whether people will come rushing back to the shops is still unknown, and Kelly said she would be ‘taking it as it comes’.

The closure of some big high street names like Oasis and Cath Kidson was a concern, as she said: “It’s a bit of a worry when the town is quite empty of shops.

“What have people got to come for?

“The problem is the Chichester rents. I don’t know who’s going to fill the shops now that they’ve gone.”

However one of the good things to come out of the pandemic could be that people support local businesses more, and value the personal service they can provide, she said.

The Chichester BID is launching a new directory with details on the businesses set to reopen and what safety measures they have in place, in order to help support businesses and encourage customers back – find out more here.

Jeanette Hockley, operations manager at Chichester BID, said: “We are so proud of our city centre businesses, they have shown true resilience during these very difficult times and are now doing all they can to get back to business but in a safe and sensible way.

“Our new directory will hopefully give customers and visitors all the information and reassurance needed to return to the city and support their local retailers while still following government advice.”

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