Stores bounce back as number of shoppers visiting the High Street rises by a third

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STORES are bouncing back as the number of shoppers visiting the high street rose by a third.

Customers have been turning out in force after England’s retail parks, high streets and shopping centres re-opened on Monday following a the three-month shutdown.

Hoards of shoppers turned out to Bicester Village shopping centre

The number of shoppers visiting the High Street has risen by a third

Springboard, a data firm monitoring footfall in shops, said 33.6 per cent more people visited high streets yesterday than last week.

And shopping centre visitor numbers were up 23 per cent.

At Arcadia, owner of Topshop and Burton, bosses are said to be pleased with stronger than expected trading.

And a spokesman for Sports Direct said on Monday “queues were two or three hours long”.

Shoppers queue in a socially distanced line for Sports Direct in Exeter

Shoppers in Brighton queue for Sports Direct as a spokesperson said their ‘queues were two or three hours long’

Stoke-on-Trent town centre was heaving with punters as lockdown rules were eased

Norwich was packed on Monday as 33.6 per cent more people visited high streets compared to last week

John Lewis, which has only opened two department stores so far in Kingston and Poole, said of the post-lockdown bestsellers: “Both shops saw strong sales of TVs which could be linked with football returning to our screens this Wednesday and Ascot being screened on TV this weekend.”

Facemasks were hugely popular across both its shops. Kingston enjoyed “really high demand for buttons and fabric, showing a clear trend for customers making their own facemasks at home”.

But independent retail analyst Nick Bubb cautioned that it was still “early days” to judge how retailers are faring after stores were shuttered in lockdown, causing sales to plunge.

Shoppers return to Stoke-on-Trent town centre as shopping centre visitor numbers are up 23 per cent this week

John Lewis said one of their most-sold products this week has been face masks

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