Shopping Centre: Merry Hill, closes all non-essential stores and Restaurants after announcement by Prime Minister Boris Johnson telling the public to avoid leaving the house.
On the 19th of March, the centre announced via social media their altered schedule with individual stores and restaurants opening from 10 am until 7 pm,
This had caused disruption for small businesses in Merry Hill as it affected their sales and had made it less safe to work.
Charlotte works at one of the small Ice cream stands inside of the building and was only told about the schedule change a day before her shift.
She said: “Business halted for us...with the weather and the panic people don’t what we’re selling…the changed hours didn’t do much to help, it just meant the place was crammed more when we first opened and during lunch.”
Though as of the 24th March intu announced that all restaurants and non-essential shops will close due to the Government's update telling the UK to only leave their home when necessary.
A message released by the CEO of intu; Matthew Roberts told shoppers: “We have a small and fantastic team on hand to make sure our centres remain clean and safe places to visit. What I would ask, is that you only visit our centres where you absolutely need to, and that when visiting you follow the social distancing guidelines for everyone’s safety.”
A list has been released on the Merry Hill website informing those going to the centre what shops will remain open and when.
But how do the shoppers feel about this?
The panic of COVID-19 has left many shops without essential items this has forced customers to travel further.
One shopper spoke of her friends struggle, she said: "My friend has been struggling to find baby milk [and had to] drive [around] different stores...apparently, now you can order from the company but it's limited to two a week."
However, some shoppers agreed with intu's choice.
Kelly: a regular shopper at Merry Hill said: "I think it's a good thing to close it down apart from Boots and Asda...people [shouldn't] be going out unless for essentials anyway [so it] will hopefully stop them."
Merry Hill is not the only shopping centre closed as many others have followed such as Birmingham Bullring and Grand Central who have also announced that they shall closed with only ‘essential retails’ remaining open, these changes are to remain this way until further notice from the Government.