Long lines don’t spell retail boom!

Anyone who has ever waited at Primark to pay for cheap workout attire or a bargain dress knows just what a challenge it is to keep the snaking line in the right place. With precautions to control the novel coronavirus’s spread, that logistical nightmare will get even worse. Every second cash register will be shut and there’ll be an employee in charge of enforcing the regimented flow of customers — in one way and out another.
Social-distancing rules governing shops are just one of the reasons why any honeymoon for retailers in the first days of reopening may be short lived. Many will soon have to confront hard decisions about whether to shut some stores definitively and how to fend off online competition in a world where people may still be hesitant to go out to shop. Recovery will be a long slog, with more pressure on profits than before the outbreak.
Non-essential stores in England, which were forced to close in March, will be permitted to open from June 15. Early indications are good. Ikea stores on the outskirts of London and in the West Midlands drew huge queues when the purveyor of flat-packed furniture reopened last week. In the US, where some states have moved quickly to reopen for business, signs have been encouraging — at least until the civil unrest that forced some store closures again.
Take TJX Cos, owner of TJ Maxx, one of the most touchy-feely retail experiences. It might seem that treasure hunting for a designer gem would be less appealing during a pandemic. But in late May the company said that overall, sales were above the year-earlier period in the 1,100 stores that had been open for at least a week. Even Macy’s, which got caught in the department-store maelstrom, said sales were moderately higher than anticipated.
It’s a similar picture in Europe. Primark, owned by Associated British Foods Plc, said that suburban outlets, such as the one in Hilversum in the Netherlands, were comfortably ahead, even though sales in city-center stores in Berlin and Amsterdam were at less than half of what they were a year ago.
There will be pent-up demand when stores open in England, too. During lockdown, online shopping has flourished. Initially, demand was for home furnishings and clothing basics, such as underwear and workout gear. But warm weather, along with a slew of special offers, has encouraged more fashion purchases, such as day dresses, over recent weeks. More markdowns, needed to clear out unsold spring and summer stock, could prompt people to splurge when they can get back out to shop again.

—Bloomberg