Shopping appointments ensure customers feel safe at Shrewsbury boutique
For many people, shops opening is a welcome return to normality, but for others, it can be a worrying time if shielding or vulnerable.
So one shop in Shrewsbury has taken measures to ensure everyone can feel safe shopping, whether in store or online, or by private appointment.
Stacey Hill, owner of Oberon Boutique, on Wyle Cop, said she felt like she was going back to school when planning how to safely open her clothes and jewellery stores.
The business owner said she was fairly nervous before opening, but that things have gone smoothly so far and the shop has been busy.
Stacey wanted to ensure her customers could return and if not, that they could still support her through a website she started during lockdown.
"We set up a website that is really starting to take off now," she said. "So we will run the shop and the website alongside each other and that will be a good compromise.
"The people that are happy to come into town and look around can do that, and those who do not, can shop on the website. We are also going to start doing appointments for people who are very nervous about being in a shop with others. They will be able to have the shop to themselves for a little time.
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"Even if two friends want to come together, and they are comfortable with it, they can book an appointment. As a business owner, you have to keep thinking, and tweaking all the time. At the moment we are open normal hours, but that may change, who knows. It is an unprecedented time and we have to suck it and see what is next."
The appointments scheme will allow customers to browse Oberon's collection at their own leisure, without the stress of having to social distance.
Stacey said that the town has been having a fair few visitors since the shops opened, and encouraged people to come out and visit Wyle Cop.
"Everyone has been lovely," she said. "Lots of people have come back to support us, and we have opened in a very safe manner. Because we have three shops, you can move from one shop to the other to be at a safe distance from other people.
"We have two clothes shops opposite each other, and a jewellery shop also. They are only small but we are managing to do social distancing and serving people safely.
"It was slightly nerve-wracking but we had thought of everything we had to do beforehand – how things were going to work like people coming into the shop, how many people could be in there, what we would do about people trying on clothes, things like that.
"We didn't know how many people were going to feel like coming into town and into shops. There were so many things to consider but things have been going well so far."
