Independent and multiple owned convenience stores are to adopt different strategies after the final sets of Covid-19 restrictions are lifted next month.

While independent shop owners across the UK vowed to maintain measures installed during the pandemic, experts warned that multiples are looking to shed coronavirus store changes in an effort to open up opportunities.

This week, prime minister Boris Johnson said England remained “on track” for its 21 June unlocking, with “personal responsibility” to replace the current mandatory approach to face coverings and social distancing. Johnson is set to provide more information on 14 June.

Similar easing of restrictions are planned for the same day in Northern Ireland and Wales, and on 28 June in Scotland.

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Independent storeowner plans

In England, Liam Cross, owner of Spar in Dersingham, Norfolk, said: “I will certainly be keeping our antibacterial stations, social distancing, floor stickers and Perspex screens in place even after 21 June. I will not be forcing my staff to wear masks and will be making the decision to wear them optional.”

Samantha Coldbeck, of Wharfedale Premier in Hull, said she would “wait and see” what happened in June. “We will probably keep the sanitising stations in place and try to keep the store as well ventilated as possible. We will move with the law,” she added.

In Northern Ireland, Judith Mercer, owner of Spar Greenway in Belfast, said: “I wear masks and am planning to carry on wearing them for a long time, but I do have some staff members who have chosen to not wear a mask.

“Many of the restrictions in my store are here to stay. The Perspex glass will be around for a long time, for safety measures and hygiene reasons.”

Scottish retailer Dennis Williams, owner of Broadway Premier in Edinburgh, agreed. “We are likely to keep our screens up and continue with our one-way system. We plan to use a common-sense approach with our decision to lift regulations because a lot of my customers are still worried,” he said.

“Once everything has settled down, I will probably have a meeting with my staff to see how comfortable they feel with removing restrictions and not wearing masks. If my staff want to keep Perspex screens up and continue wearing masks, I will listen to them.”

Cathryn Williams, of The Hub at Abercrave in Swansea, said: “We will still be using the one-way system for our store and we are going to carry on wearing masks until we are absolutely sure that
everything is safe.

“However, when it is completely guaranteed that this pandemic is over, we will probably remove most of our restrictions.”

Greater chiller space in stores is another longstanding influence of the pandemic, according to refrigeration companies and Gary Secker, managing director at Norfolk-based GDP Design & Shopfitting.

Secker told Better Retailing: “Fittings of chiller space in general has been increasing recently because of the increase in product range that stores have been beginning to offer since the pandemic.”

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What multiples are doing differently

John Dolman, founder of Spec Consultancy, has more than 40 years’ experience in grocery store design including with firms such as Tesco and Spar UK wholesaler Blakemore.

Asked whether the longer-term changes reported in independent stores are also occurring in their chain-managed rivals, he told Better Retailing that many of the measures are already being scaled back.

He added: “Most of the multiple stores, if you include Co-op in that, they are a bit of a mess. They have moved gondolas to create a one-way system and it’s frustrating as a customer, it creates a bad shopper journey and puts people off from the very pop-in-pop-out on-the-go visits that are coming back.

“I’ve heard nothing from any contractors to say anything has changed in the multiples’ approach. They are ploughing on with their pre-Covid plans.”

Dolman suggested many of the measures represented a “distraction” mainly affecting “independents and small symbol groups”, while supermarkets reverted to shop decisions being made based on improving “shopper experience”.

He added: “People want to forget. That’s the key thing, stores should facilitate that as much as they can. Every retailer needs to re-evaluate their approach and ask half a dozen customers about how they are using social distancing measures in stores.

“Watch the CCTV and see if you notice the changes in behaviour. There are fewer customers using sanitiser, fewer wearing masks, and there is less social distancing.”

Find out more on our coronavirus information hub for retailers