tim... wrote:


"Recliner" wrote in message
...
Today was the day when non-essential shops and outdoor restaurants could
reopen in England. I decided to take an
electric bus along two of the main shopping streets in London to see if
there were returning crowds of shoppers.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/recliner/albums/72157718923710722

Bottom line: not really, as the absence of foreign tourists is very
obvious. But some shops did have queues outside at
10am.

It took the weekend for my high street to be busy again after the first
lockdown

Not many people are going to take a day off work to go shopping 5 days
earlier, after a wait for 4 months


It didn't stop very long queues of working age men outside every barber's
shop.

I suspect that many of the West End shops are suffering from the absence of
foreign tourists. Shops more likely to appeal to locals, such Apple,
Hamley's and Nike had long queues outside at opening time (10am). A few
West End stores (particularly those with food halls) have a 9am opening
time, and I'd have missed seeing their queues.