As the nation filters back into a hazy resemblance of normality these past few weeks, with the reintroduction of non-essential shops to our high street, controversy has sparked at the length of queues forming.
Notorious for its lack of online shopping presence, queues outside retail giant Primark were predictably large.
By 8am on the Monday morning of reopening, loyal shoppers gathered on Nottingham’s Long Row outside the shop, guided by the government-advised two metre apart queue system and staff on the door to maximise staff and customer safety. Just a few signs of our ‘new normal’.
The buzz in town now feels like your standard weekday, far removed from the quiet lull of the same street only a week prior.
It has been three months. You cannot be that desperate for a pack of socks, right?
But this frenzy for what might just be seen as a bit of missed retail therapy has received considerable backlash.
It has been three months. You cannot be that desperate for a pack of socks, right?
Yet, I will repeat that phrase with an altered perspective. It has been three months.
For low-income families, Primark is often the only place parents can afford to buy clothes for their children.Supermarket brands have been the next best option for providing a summer-friendly child wardrobe as of late but the affordability of Primark and say Sainsbury’s, for instance, is worlds apart.
Especially when 6.5 million jobs could be lost due to the pandemic. And money is tight.
But are working class people really to blame when they are trying to provide for their children?
Yet of course, as the epitome of fast fashion, Primark is by no means the most ideal shopping destination in an ethical and sustainable vein. In isolation, this is a very valid and noteworthy reason to disagree with the extraordinary consumption seen this past week.
But are working class people really to blame when they are trying to provide for their children?
We have all heard the accusations of ‘they haven’t had their Primark fix in three months, I don’t know how they’ve coped’ rattled round. It’s undeniable that some of the crowds we saw eager to get back to shopping were responding to the novelty of it being open again, desperate to cop the latest five quid must-have t-shirt their wardrobe had been missing. But ethics aside – we are all just doing what we can to seek comfort in these uncertain times.
Who is to challenge how some people cope?
Rhianna Greensmith
Featured image courtesy of DennisM2 via Flickr. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
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