It’s good news for shoppers who prefer browsing in store instead of online as Next has announced plans to reopen selected branches when lockdown is lifted.
The high street favourite will be prioritising its larger out-of-town outlets initially where it’s easier to operate in a "socially distanced world" - the bigger car parks also make it easier to manage store access.
Planned measures include screening of tills, distance marking walkways, sanitisation stations, exit and entry management systems.
Next closed its online operations in late March, following criticism from staff who felt unsafe at work due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Next said: "On Thursday 26 March, we temporarily closed our UK warehouses and distribution networks in order to adapt our operations to working safely in a coronavirus world."
The clothing and homeware brand continued: "During the 18 days of closure we re-organised all aspects of our warehousing to ensure social distancing and improved sanitation.
"We re-organised the flow of pedestrians, adapted exits, entrances, congregation areas, rest areas and workstations. In addition, we changed our picking routines and delivery promise to smooth workflow during the day and eliminated the peaks in activity most likely to result in close contact between operatives."
Manchester Evening News reports that Next has also hinted that a huge sale could be on the way after the retailer said: "The reduction in sales volumes has meant that we have a lot more stock in our warehouses than anticipated.
"Although our main July and January End of Season Sales are likely to fall outside lockdown, we believe clearing our surplus stock will prove challenging if social distancing restrictions are in force."
You can browse the Next online store here, but be aware that for safety reasons, they are limiting daily orders.
When they hit today's limit they will close the website until tomorrow morning, find out more about this here.
