Day one of reopening has already proved a success in York – with streets busy with shoppers.
Pavement cafés were doing a brisk trade in the spring sunshine.
Phil Pinder, of the York Retail Forum, told YorkMix: “It’s amazing to see the city come to life again. And the sun is shining too!
“All the shops are opening with Covid-safe measures in place to allow people to shop safely.
“And customers are clearly exercising caution from what we have seen today.”
While it was too early to say whether store’s takings were up, retailers “were very confident about the first week”.
Positive step forward
Make It York has been working alongside York BID and City of York Council to introduce new temporary outdoor spaces across the city.
The new seating areas will allow people to safely see their friends and family and create additional seating to support nearby cafes, pubs and restaurants.
A tipi-style covered seating area is now open on Parliament Street in partnership with Thor’s Tipi, offering extra space for nearby hospitality businesses.
Shambles Market has reopened to all traders.
To help manage the space effectively and aid with social distancing, a number of the Shambles Market street food businesses will be trading from St Sampson’s Square where additional benches will be provided for the public. This will include Shambles Kitchen, KREP and Stam & Maria Greek Street Food.
Ashley Young, senior marketing and communications manager at Make It York said: “We are delighted that more of York’s businesses are able to reopen today as lockdown restrictions ease.
“York has so many incredible independent retailers and a world-class hospitality industry, and it’s a positive step forward that we can start to see some of the businesses that we’ve greatly missed over the last few months now reopening.”
