Fashion chain Matalan has reopened a dozen UK stores to the public - and one is in the North.
Bosses have announced the 12 shops are trading as normal with social distancing in place to protect staff and shoppers.
The chain, which is classed as an ‘essential’ retailer due to its home section, said 12 stores will reopen this week after the Government announced homeware stores are now classed as crucial retailers.
In a statement to customers, Matalan said the first to open will be those in “out of town retail parks”, though branches in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will remain closed.
Where branches will reopen, staff have been taken off furlough in line with a change in Government guidelines on May 1, reported the Mirror.
And the Matalan which has opened in the North is on Neasham Road Retail Centre in Darlington, County Durham.
“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.
“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 12 Matalan stores that have now reopened
- Basildon
- Bradford Green Gates
- Bolton
- Cortonwood
- Darlington
- Halifax
- Leeds Halton
- Luton
- Rotherham
- Southport
- Truro
- Walsall - North
