Weathering the Corona Virus Pandemic

With the high street not in brilliant shape before the pandemic, there have expectedly already been casualties in the last month and likely there will be more. Continuing our Retail Expo 2020 series, Caroline Baldwin – Editor at Essential Retail – hosts a panel discussion to give the audience some insight into key priorities for survival.

Also on the panel is:

  • Isabella West – Founder/CEO at Hirestreet
  • John Hagan – Director of Growth at Purelei
  • Kieron Smith – Digital Director at Blackwell’s Bookshops

Just like many people have been on a mental ‘lockdown journey’, many businesses have been on an operational one.

Hirestreet, a fashion rental business, began by closing down as much as possible to protect their staff. They focused on what they could do remotely such as improving their online presence. But as time has gone on they have started to shift their priorities to thinking about how they can reopen safely. Isabella has also been trying some innovative ideas on what they can deliver to customers at home, such as trial boxes.

The first thing Blackwell’s did when the lockdown started was to take all stock from their stores and move it to distribution centres. They were able to safely operate these to fulfill online orders without risking the wellbeing of staff. This has generated valuable revenue during the lockdown and meant that they could still offer the incredibly wide range of titles to customers.

Purelei have found that many of their products are somewhat recession proof. Following the ‘lipstick effect’, consumers have been more willing to buy less costly luxury goods. With profits not taking a significant hit, they have dedicated some resources to donating vital equipment to health workers and other good causes.


It is clear that innovation is the word of the day. Businesses have, out of necessity, ventured far from the norm to reinvent themselves in a way that they can remain relevant. Taxi companies have turned into food delivery services; gin distilleries have transformed into hand sanitiser production lines; even small bookshops who do not have the capital to dive into e-commerce have simply taken videos along their shelves and posted them on social media to allow customers to place orders.

One benefit of this situation may be the creativity that has been born from it. The question now will be to what extent will these businesses go back to their old model, if at all?

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