Next to reopen 25 of its 500 stores from 15 June

Next has announced it will begin the reopening of its 500-strong store network with the opening of 25 of them on 15 June.

Those 25 stores will be the retailer’s larger format stores in out of town locations, a spokesperson for the company said. Other stores will then follow in the coming weeks.

The company said it will be implementing all the necessary new health and safety measures set out by the government. These include limiting customer numbers inside stores at any given time; queuing systems in place outside the stores; one-way arrow-marked routes; social distancing signage; protective screens at tills; hand sanitisation stations; as well as PPE and new training for staff.

The retailer will also be quarantining all returned goods for 72 hours after their return.

All the fitting rooms will be closed until further notice.

All Next stores have been closed since 23 March due to the coronavirus, though its online operations have been up and running since April after they were temporarily halted in March shortly after the UK’s lockdown was announced.

On Monday, the government announced that all non-essential stores could begin to reopen from 15 June.

Photo credit: Next image gallery