The Matalan store in Southport has reopened to customers with safety measures which “go above and beyond the guidance provided” by the Government and Public Health England.
The store, at Ocean Plaza, is among 12 being opened by the firm after being shut for the past eight weeks during the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision comes as Matalan has been classed an ‘essential’ store due to its homeware section.
The firm says it is “extremely happy” to welcome back staff whom it had placed on furlough.
A Matalan spokesman said: “Following our decision to close our stores almost eight weeks ago we’ve been working tirelessly on preparing our stores for reopening with enhanced health and safety measures and strict social distancing guidelines to ensure we offer the safest shopping environment for you.
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“Given the change in government guidance on 1st May to include Homeware as essential retail in England, we are now pleased to inform you that we are starting to reopen selected stores.
“We are very confident that these safety measures go above and beyond the guidance provided by the Government and Public Health England.
“We will initially be re-opening our spacious stores with large Homeware departments and a Click and Collect service. These stores are all located on out of town retail parks, with parking outside, enabling us to effectively adhere to social distancing guidelines. High street stores, stores in shopping centres, our clearance stores and our stores in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales will remain closed.
“With our new safety measures in place, we are extremely happy to be back serving families across England, and look forward to welcoming our customers back into stores, and our colleagues returning from furlough. We are extremely grateful to all of our colleagues for their huge efforts in caring for our customers and the business, and to our customers for their continued loyalty to Matalan.”
The complete list of reopened stores is: Southport; Bolton; Basildon; Bradford Green Gates; Cortonwood; Darlington; Halifax; Leeds Halton; Luton; Rotherham; Truro; and Walsall – North.
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