Selfridges is leading the way by being the first major UK department store to temporarily close its stores in London, Birmingham and Manchester as the coronavirus outbreak hits the UK’s high streets.
In a statement issued last night (Wednesday March 18) the company said: “It is with a heavy heart that we have made the decision to temporarily close our four physical stores in London, Birmingham and Manchester from 7pm.
We will continue to serve our global customers through Selfridges.com and across our social channels until we can open our doors again.”
The retailer added that the “health and wellbeing of our customers and team members is our utmost priority.”
A statement from Fenwick’s management said: “As a family business, the health and wellbeing of our customers, our teams and our local communities is always close to our heart and in these times of great uncertainty, we need to do the right thing for them by mitigating the potential spread of coronavirus. We have therefore taken the very difficult decision to temporarily close all Fenwick stores to the public from 6pm on Thursday 19th March until further notice.
“For as long as we can, we will continue to operate our digital and social channels including our online store at www.fenwick.co.uk, our Instagram @FenwickOfficial and our Fenwick Stores Facebook page.”
At Harrods, the company confirmed that, for the first time in its history, it has reduced its opening hours, although Sunday trading hours will stay the same.
Top: Selfridges has closed its doors for now, but is trading online. Photo by Alex Holyoake on Unsplash.
