AS lockdown measures eased yesterday, shops in Oxford’s Covered Market were among those able to reopen their doors for the first time since Christmas.
Monday, April 12, was the first day non-essential retailers across England were able to open their doors to the public this year.
While some shops in the historic covered market have been able to open their doors for trading throughout the year, including butchers and bakers, others like clothing and gift shops have had to rely on online trade only since December 24.
There was a hopeful mood among most traders in the market yesterday as they pulled up the shutters for the first time in more than three months.
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At The Cake Shop, manager David Bunting said: “We’re always feeling hopeful. This is one of those businesses that just seems to survive.”
The manager said staff had mostly been busy with online orders from regular customers, and were expecting more business as people could meet in larger groups, and as companies and Oxford University’s constituent colleges returned to in-person working.
Mr Bunting said: “People are realising they can have their cake and eat it - with their family.”
At clothes shop Ansari, manager and lifestyle specialist Ruby Khan said reopening her Covered Market store had given her a chance to reconnect with fellow shopkeepers.
Cornmarket Street as shops reopened on Monday, April 12, 2021
She said: “It is nice to be connected to this little community. It’s a neighbourhood here, very close.”
Ms Khan added she did not expect an immediate return to normal, as foreign tourists made up a large part of the Market’s business.
She added: “Although we haven’t got the foreign tourists, we are seeing people come from around the city and other cities too. Let’s see how it goes: it is a Monday right now and it has been snowing. Moving towards the weekend we might see a nice rise in numbers.”
At gift shop Collectors Corner, manager Gary Hopkins had caught the bus from Swindon to open up for the first time this year.
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Mr Hopkins said: “On the bus coming up prior to the pandemic they used to be pretty full, but these days you can tell it is going to be a bad day when there are only two or three people on the bus.”
But as he priced down calendars from £9.99 to 99p, he said he still felt there was a hope for a better rest of the year ahead, as the vaccine gave people confidence.
At the Oxford Soap Company, owner Ervin Tomkys Valteri said he was grateful to be reopening after a strange year.
Gary Hopkins, the manager at Collectors Corner in the Covered Market
He said: “I have a seven month old daughter, she was born in August. I spent much of time with her so I had to look at the good side of things.
“The business went online and hasn’t been affected massively. I’ve only been coming to the shop to organise orders and then I have been delivering soap door-to-door.”
Ervin Tomkys Valteri of the Oxford Soap Company
Mr Tomkys Valteri added: “The most important thing for me is I am back and have a business. No one I know has been affected or hurt by corona, and I haven’t gone into debt. That’s all you can ask for in a global pandemic.”
However, while most traders were glad to be back, some were still wary about the immediate future.
One trader, who did not want to be named, said she was expecting a tough season of trading ahead and did not expect to be in the clear for several years yet.
She added: “I think we are going to struggle for a long time. I am not being negative. I am being realistic.”
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