While “home and hardware stores” have been permitted to stay open throughout the Covid-19 lockdown by the UK government, many of the larger retail chains chose to close their doors. However, as the lockdown endures, more progress is being made on opening these bricks and mortar stores.
Homebase is currently trialling the opening of 20 stores, with strict controls in place during the Covid-19 lockdown. Homebase had still been operating online, but as from the weekend (25 April), the company has installed Perspex screens at tills, added guidelines on the floor to maintain social distancing and are accepting card payments only at 20 stores, including:
- Hamilton
- Edinburgh
- Altrincham
- Telford
- Sheffield Chesterfield Road
- Leeds
- Worcester
- Rugby
- Newmarket
- Norwich Sprowston
- Bridgend
- Haverfordwest
- St Albans
- Bracknell
- Ewell
- Streatham Vale
- Basildon
- Haringey
- Folkestone
- Orpington
The remaining UK Homebase stores are offering a collection and counter service.
B&Q has gone larger, recently opening over half of its stores with plans to reopen its remaining shops by early May. Sanitiser stations have been introduced for trolleys and – like Homebase – there are now 2 metre navigational markers on the floor, perspex screens at checkouts and contactless payments only.
The full list of B&Q stores open at 27 April is:
England: Bedfordshire – Bedford (Tradepoint), Luton; Berkshire - Reading, Slough; Bristol - Hartcliffe, Longwell Green; Buckinghamshire - Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes; Cambridgeshire - Cambridge, Peterborough, St. Neots; Cheshire - Chester, Crewe, Handforth, Macclesfield, Northwich, Stockport, Warrington; Cornwall – Camborne, St.Austell; Derbyshire -Chesterfield, Derby; Devon - Exeter, Newton Abbot, Plymouth, Torquay; Durham - Bishop Auckland, Darlington, Durham, Stockton-on-Tees; East Riding of Yorkshire - Hull (Ferry Lane), Hull (St Andrews Quay); East Sussex – Bexhill, Eastbourne; Essex -Basildon, Braintree, Chelmsford , Clacton-on-Sea, Colchester, Romford (Roneo Corner), Romford (Tangent Link), Southend, West Thurrock; Gloucestershire - Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stroud; Greater Manchester - Ashton-Under-Lyne, Bolton, Leigh, Manchester (Cheetham Hill), Manchester (Trafford Park), Oldham, Wigan; Hampshire - Basingstoke, Eastleigh, Fareham, Farnborough, Havant, Portsmouth, Southampton (Hedge End), Southampton (Nursling); Herefordshire - Hereford; Hertfordshire – Stevenage, Watford; Isle of Wight – Newport; Kent – Ashford, Canterbury, Dartford, Dover, Gillingham, Gravesend, Larkfield, Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, Whitstable; Leicestershire – Hinckley, Leicester, Loughborough, Wigston; Lincolnshire – Boston, Grimsby, Scunthorpe, Skegness, Spalding; Liverpool – Speke; London – Acton, Beckton, Belvedere, Chiswick, Cricklewood, Croydon, Eltham, Enfield, Friern Barnet, Greenwich, Holloway Road, Ilford, Leyton, Merton, Peckham, Sidcup, Stanmore, Sutton, Sydenham, Tottenham, West Norwood, Yeading; Merseyside - Aintree, Liverpool Shopping Park, St.Helens, Wallasey; Norfolk - Fakenham, Great Yarmouth, Kings Lynn, Norwich, Norwich (Hall Road), Thetford, Wisbech; North Yorkshire – Scarborough,York (Clifton Moor), York (Hull Road); Northamptonshire - Northampton, Wellingborough; Nottinghamshire - Eastwood, Nottingham (Netherfield), Nottingham (Riverside), Sutton in Ashfield, Worksop; Oxfordshire - Banbury, Witney; Shropshire - Shrewsbury; Somerset - Chard, Taunton, Weston-Super-Mare, Yeovil; South Yorkshire - Barnsley (Dearne Valley),Doncaster, Sheffield (Queens Road); Staffordshire - Burton upon Trent, Cannock, Stafford, Stoke-On-Trent (Meir Park), Tamworth; Suffolk – Bury St.Edmunds, Haverhill, Ipswich, Sudbury; Surrey - New Malden, Guildford, Wallington; Sussex - Bognor Regis, Brighton, Crawley; Teeside – Middlesbrough; Tyne and Wear - Newcastle (Scotswood), North Shields, Sunderland, Washington; West Midlands - Birmingham (Erdington), Coventry (Alvis Retail Park), Coventry (Brandon Road), Halesowen, Solihull, Wednesbury, Wolverhampton; West Sussex - Burgess Hill, Worthing; West Yorkshire - Castleford (Glasshoughton), Halifax, Huddersfield, Leeds (Beeston Ring Road),Leeds (Killingbeck); Wiltshire - Devizes, Trowbridge, Swindon; Worcestershire – Evesham, Redditch; Yorkshire - Goole.
Northern Ireland: Belfast (Holywood Exchange); Lisburn (Sprucefield); Newtownabbey.
Scotland: Aberdeen - Bridge Of Don & Garthdee Road; Bishopbriggs; Coatbridge; Cumbernauld; Dundee; East Kilbride; Edinburgh - Hermiston Gait & Newcraighall; Elgin; Falkirk; Glasgow - Darnley, Great Western Rd & Parkhead; Inverness; Kilmarnock; Kirkcaldy; Paisley; Perth; Port Glasgow; Stirling.
Wales: Caerphilly; Cardiff; Cardiff (Culverhouse Cross); Cwmbran; Merthyr Tydfil; Newport; Swansea.
Wickes stores remain shut, while its online shop is open for customers.
