THE UK’s leading retailers and supermarkets are working on plans to shut their big stores for up to four hours for the Queen’s funeral next Monday.
Sources told The Sun that Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Waitrose and Morrisons were finalising details to close their stores for around four hours as a mark of respect and to allow staff and customers to watch the funeral on TV.
It is thought that large supermarkets will shut roughly between the hours of 10am and 2pm.
However, smaller convenience stores will remain open, in part to ensure that the thousands of people expected to gather to watch the funeral will be able to buy water and food for the day.
Other retailers are also preparing to shut some stores.
Marks & Spencer is still finalising plans but it is thought that clothing stores will shut for the full day while mixed food and clothing stores will have scaled back operations and reduced hours.
John Lewis Partnership is keeping just ten food shops along the funeral route but is shutting all of its 34 department stores and its remaining 321 Waitrose stores for the day.
Waitrose holds a Royal Warrant.
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A spokesman for The British Retail Consortium said: “Retailers are taking their lead from Government and are choosing to mark the Queen’s passing in ways they deem appropriate for their staff and customers.”
Another industry source said that retailers were trying to navigate all the pros and cons of the different options.
The government has advised: “Some businesses may wish to consider closing or postponing events, especially on the day of the State Funeral, however, this is at the discretion of individual businesses.”
At midday there will be two minutes of silence across the nation and the London Stock Exchange will close, meaning no UK shares will be traded.
The day after the Queen’s death was announced department stores Selfridges and Liberty closed their doors and had the Union Jack flags outside their building at half mast.
There are usually eight annual bank holidays for workers in England and Wales, while those in Scotland normally get nine or ten – depending on the timing of New Year and patron saint days.
There was an additional bank holiday earlier this year on Friday 3 June 2022 to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which official figures showed dented the UK’s economy due to lower business levels.
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It will be up to pubs and restaurants as to whether they close during the nation’s period of mourning.
Andrew Murphy, chief operating officer, The John Lewis Partnership says: “We are deeply saddened by the death of Her Majesty The Queen. We will be closing our stores on the day of her funeral as a mark of respect, and because we believe this is the right thing to do for our Partners and customers.”
