The Great British Retail Reopening

The UK is emerging from a third lockdown with the long-awaited return of non-essential retailing. Will shoppers rush back? Selfridges is planning an outdoor SoulCycle fitness studio, central London’s Oxford Street has a Spotify “shopping playlist” and designer Stella McCartney is serving up vegan goodies and live streaming talks at her Mayfair flagship. The message: British fashion retail is open again for business — at last. The April 12th reopening of all physical stores in the UK is an occasion for optimism, but it’s heavily laced with caution. “The big question is how much of the massive increase in total share of spend will online retain?” says Richard Hyman, veteran UK retail analyst. His rough estimate, he says, is about 85 percent. “If online hangs on to a material portion of spend, then the cost of selling something in a shop will have gone up significantly.” Read more at Vogue Business.