When will shops like Primark, Next and Ikea open in Wales?

Alert Level 4 lockdown measures have been in place across Wales since December 20, 2020.

As part of the 'stay at home' restrictions all non-essential retail has remained closed, with the exception of click and collect services.

However, on Friday, February 19 the First Minister outlined how Wales is going to begin slowly reopening, leaving many wondering when their favourite shops such as Primark will be up and running again.

You can read the full lockdown rules and changes for Wales following the Welsh Government announcement last week here.

And after Boris Johnson released the roadmap out of lockdown for England on Monday, February 22, with the possibility of shops reopening there on April 12 at the earliest, stores have already begun issuing statements.

But it's important to remember the Prime Minister's roadmap is for England only. You can read the big differences between how Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland plan to come out of lockdown here.

A spokesman for John Lewis said on Tuesday, February 23: "Following the Prime Minister's announcement on the proposed road map for April, which is dependent on a number of conditions being met, we will start to plan for the reopening of our John Lewis shops in England.

"We will await further guidance from the devolved administrations for those John Lewis shops in Wales and Scotland."

When shops like Primark, Next and Ikea are likely to open in Wales (PA)

So what is the plan for non-essential retail reopening in Wales?

There is no change to retail currently, with Alert Level 4 restrictions remaining in place for a further three weeks.

However, non-essential stores could soon reopen providing the situation around coronavirus improves.

The Welsh Government confirmed it will be looking at the restrictions around non-essential retail and close contact services as part of its next 21-day review, which ends on Friday, March 12 .

"If we can lift the stay at home requirement, then we will also look at whether we can start to re-open some non-essential retail and close-contact services, such as hairdressing," Mark Drakeford said during Friday's review announcement.

However, the First Minister said this was dependent on "if we continue to see improvements to the public health situation here, and we don't see a further wave of infections caused by any of the new variants circulating in the UK".

You can read everything Drakeford said at Friday's Welsh Government briefing here.