Retail shop owners have come out publicly to defend their businesses. They commit to saying that it is not their job to police the wearing of masks because of the potential threat of abuse for their staff.
However the larger concern continues to be the risk of declining sales within their store if customers refuse to put a mask on.
The footfall count between the 15th to 17th of November drastically declined from 18,937 in 2019 to 4610 in 2020.
A survey posted into ‘Leeds student group’ on Facebook revealed that 56.3% of the respondents would not wear a mask if it was not a government regulation.
The mask mandate currently does not extend to the hospitality sector which makes retail shop owners like Rachel Duffield of Katie and May clothing boutique, feel that there should be “one rule for all”.
One of the survey responders feels that the hospitality sector has been disproportionately supported during covid, eat out to help out being one such example.
They said, “The government needs to adequately address the shift away from shopping on the high street and how covid has hugely contributed to its decline due to the ease and safety of shopping online.”
People have to put a mask on to go into their local takeaway where minimal time is actually spent at the location, whereas restaurants continue to be a ‘mask free zone’.
Katie Pitts, co-owner of The Dressing Room fashion boutique said, “It’s very ambiguous and you want to know more than you’re able to know, you just feel like you just have to take each week as it comes.”
If the rules stay the same in the next few weeks leading up to Christmas, shop owners will unfortunately continue to be the sector most affected by ‘anti-mask’ customers.
