When will NEXT reopen their stores for NEXT sales?

Stores like Next and John Lewis are set to reopen some of their UK stores thanks to a drop in coronavirus cases across the UK. On Sunday May 24th 2020, Boris Johnson announced on the BBC that the government would be looking into reopening non-essential stores from the 15th of June onwards. Whilst the current pandemic is far from over in the UK.

Essential services like schools are being at the forefront of a risky reopening plan from the government that completely contradicts other countries within the UK and most Independent Sage scientific advice. With the British Medical Association, NHS/Fire unions and NEU teacher unions suggesting there is still insufficient data to know we are truly seeing a long-term reduction in the “R Value”, it’s hard to know for sure whether we will get to the 15th June without a new spike or second wave.

That being said, If the UK is extremely fortunate with transmission levels, June 15th will see initial easing of retail restrictions.

Next are due to reopen stores and begin Next sales.

It was back in March 2020 that the large UK retail outlet next decided to shut its doors in line with government regulations.  The fashion giant stated it would only reopen when locked down measures had been eased and safety precautions were able to be adhered to.

As a company, Next are believed to have been organising some truly amazing safety precautions. This is not only in their stores, but also in their warehouses for online delivery helping to keep both staff and customers safe. So, with all the preparation they’ve been able to put in place, which Next stores will be reopen first and when will it be?

Well, all of the UK stores have been reorganised to allow the flow of customer footfall within. The have adapted exits and entrances and congregation areas for safety of staff. Most importantly the signage and labelling making it obvious to both staff and customers how to behave in Next stores that reopen is huge, clear and bold!

Next are believed to be reopening their stores in line with the June 15th opening guide that the government has set out. However, from what I have gathered so far, they seem as a retail company to be approaching it in a very smart and sensible way. The idea is that they will reopen their large “out of city” stores first. These are traditionally those located in industrial retail parks on cirt ring roads etc. The idea behind this is to discourage the large numbers of “inner city” footfall that will likely be encountered in city centres when most retails stores reopen on June 15th.

It’s a remarkably selfless and well thought out approach that seeks to protect not only its customers, but also its staff.

The idea is that in subsequent weeks, the other inner-city Next stores will reopen to facilitate the Next sales.

Next are due to reopen stores and begin Next sales.

When Next do reopen their stores they’re likely to have additional sales. This is due to the fact they’ll have such large abundances of surplus seasonal stock. How it will work exactly is unknown, but they could add additional sales dates into their normal Next sales dates calendar or they could simply increase the length of the sale periods in order to refresh sale stock over a number of days. This would obviously mean their may be more Next clothing bargain around and their may not be the need to bag a Next Vip Sale slot as urgently as usual.

You can read more about the NEXT sales and the Next Preview VIP sale slots here