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More shops at Mercia Marina reopen as Government eases lockdown restrictions

More shops at Mercia Marina reopen as Government eases lockdown restrictions

More shops at Mercia Marina are preparing to open for business from Monday (June 15th) after the Government gave the go ahead for non-essential stores to begin trading again.

From next week, BlueBird Fine Art Gallery, Merchant’s Jewellers, Blue Water, White Finn, Start & Tremayne Accessories, Zing Furniture and Twigg Home will all reopen.

Plant and flower shop Horticulture 4 has already opened its doors, along with Black By Design, and the Lotus Indian Restaurant has reopened to offer a takeaway service. The Beetroot Tree café remained open for takeaways throughout the lockdown period as did convenience store Still Waters. Chrissy’s Gift Boat is planning to open from July 1st.

Steve Robinson has stores at the marina, in Willington, including Blue Water, White Finn and Twigg Home.

He said: “Blue Water has been active online for many years, our website is both successful and popular and moving forward Blue Water is excited to be opening on June 15th. We are expecting new summer deliveries shortly, offering discounts to suit the current situation. White Finn has recently built a new website which was launched in May. Discounts will be available in store as well as online.

“Twigg Home opened an "outdoor market" on Monday the 1st, the weather was kind to begin with but it has been challenging since then however customers’ attitude towards our opening were positive. We brought smiles to faces we hadn't seen in weeks, our sales are good and encouraging.

“We are taking all measures possible to keep our customers safe as well as ourselves. Twigg may also continue to open the outdoor market during the summer months.”

The Bluebird Fine Art Gallery will reopen on the 15th with new hours of 10am to 4pm. The gallery will be closed on Mondays from June 22nd until further notice.

Maxine Pincher, who owns the gallery, said: “We are adding screens around the desk, a one-way system around the gallery, a maximum of six people will be allowed in at one time and of course hand sanitiser will be available.

“We are looking forward to welcoming our clients back to the gallery and taking every precaution to keep both clients and staff safe.”

Merchant’s Jewellers will reopen on Tuesday, June 16th from 10am until 3pm. The shop will be closed on Mondays until further notice.

Karim Merchant, director, said: “We were very proactive during lockdown, using the time to create a new website in-house, which reflects and mirrors our jewellers at Mercia Marina.

“We will be allowing two people in at a time into our store, as many customers shop in couples, either with their other half or member of family. We have hand sanitiser in place, we will be wearing masks for peace of mind, constantly wiping down cabinets and glass surfaces down, between customers.

“We have also purchased two UV Lightboxes, which allow us to place an item of jewellery or watch into and they will get blasted with UV light which will remove 99% of any harmful. This will be done on each item that a customer tries on or handles, to give peace of mind to all customers to try items on freely and safely.”

Pauline Gill, from Zing Furniture, said: “We will be reopening on Monday, operating the same hours so 10am until 5pm every day apart from Sunday which will be 10am until 4pm. There will be a one-way system in operation so customers will come in the front door and go out of the back door. We are also offering the opportunity to have a half hour appointment upstairs where you can get free interior design advice so you can shop safely and have exclusive access. There will be two customers allowed upstairs and to start with we are looking at allowing three downstairs.”

Peter Hardingham, from Start and Tremayne, said: “The safety of our customers and staff is paramount. Start and Tremayne have followed UK Government guidance to provide that reassurance and have introduced measures designed to enable customers to shop with us in these challenging times in complete safety whilst also protecting our staff. Customers will notice a number of physical changes when they next shop with us, such as screens at the till points and plenty of hand sanitiser available on entry. Numbers entering our stores may also have to be restricted at busy times in order to maintain social distancing requirements but all can be assured of a very warm welcome.

“To allow customers to continue to touch and feel the product we sell every customer will be offered disposable gloves when they enter our three stores from the 15th June, which they can keep and use as they see fit for the rest of their shopping trip but which whilst with us will allow them to fully appreciate the touch and feel along with the features of the products we sell. We are back and really looking forward to seeing everyone from the 15th June".

Bookings are also being taken for stays from July 4th onwards in the marina’s popular luxury lodges at the Marina, in anticipation of further easing of the lockdown.


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