A rainy old day. I ran around the coast road to Gorey Pier – a regular little run – ready with my bus pass to get the no.1 bus back to my starting point. The harbour area is a pleasant spot in the shade of Mont Orgueil and busy with tourists in a normal summer. There’s a large, four-sided shelter where the buses turn around. The benches on all four sides were occupied this day. The bus arrived and I hesitated, waiting for those who had arrived earlier to climb aboard.
No one from the shelter moved a muscle. On I got and off we went.
It’s the new phenomenon, here in Jersey at least. The cafés, unable to seat customers due to Covid restrictions have embraced the takeaway (‘takeout’ in the States I believe). So where do you go with your takeaway? Of course, one of the many shelters constructed for bus passengers or, elsewhere, for the weary tourist. They’re packed. The rubbish bins are full of cardboard cups and more bins have had to be deployed at popular spots.
This pandemic has certainly galvanised many local businesses into survival mode and who have made changes to adapt to the new circumstances. One of the striking first examples of this was at the time of the first lockdown in March of last year. Suddenly our local fishermen had no sales outlets for their catches. What did they do? They started selling right there from the harbour, from the boats, via a hurried social media campaign. The response from the locals was excellent.
For general food shopping, queues formed outside supermarkets due to restrictions on numbers. In response, the supermarkets started to offer home deliveries, taking on extra staff to do so. Not to offer delivery was to risk losing market share.
Non-food retailers, classed as non-essential and therefore restricted even more, started to offer Click-and-Collect, rarely heard of before. Many upped their online presence with many more people now finding it easier to shop from their armchairs.
And never mind the cafés, the high-end restaurants are now offering takeaways and home deliveries to keep a little income flowing before life returns to ‘normal’. My local Chinese takeaway was rushed off its feet during first lockdown, the delivery guys couldn’t cope. However they are now quieter than previously as so many other places have joined the battle for the home delivery market. (Personally I still don’t understand why many people won’t stretch their legs a few yards to collect their food but I guess these are the times we live in.)
And when this is all over our retail landscape will most certainly have changed forever. I doubt it will be benefitting our previously thriving town centres though.
Back On The Rock 
Yes, our local economy has adjusted similarly. I doubt that these new avenues for buying and selling will disappear, although I certainly look forward to full restaurants at some point. I really do feel for local establishments that are hanging on by being creative, but only just.
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It will be interesting to see Jane. Certainly those who have moved fast and innovated stand the best chance. It’s really been like a speeded-up exercise in business management where there are winners and losers. There is some government financial assistance available – is that the case in NB?
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Yes, Roy, there will be winners and losers. I just hope that the winners aren’t mostly big chains and losers small local businesses. At least most people do seem to have more of an appreciation for the difference and for the importance of shopping locally. Yes, we also have assistance for businesses, both federally and provincially. That at least helps keep them with their noses barely above water. Such struggles.
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Wow. I never thought of people eating at bus stops just so that they could be outside and eat their food. The takeout trade here runs high. Even still, so many local restaurants are struggling. I’m trying my best to support them :-).
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Yes it’s one unexpected side-effect with people anxious to get out of the house but with few options. Meantime people waiting for a bus get wet 🙂
I don’t think we’ll take so much for granted in the future, the ability to do little things like meet people for a coffee and beer. I hope that most will pull through these difficult times.
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I agree, Roy. My friends and I have talked about how much we will appreciate gathering for someone’s birthday in a home or a restaurant and being able to toast, hug, laugh.
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This all sounds very familiar!!! People sitting on anything that could be construed as a seat and enjoying snacks and coffees …. lots and lots of coffees… The home delivery service is thriving. Non food retailers not doing so well… I had to drop in to Dublin city centre yesterday morning…. Debenhams gone and a removals firm was emptying a huge H and M store beside it.
We’re all longing for the little things aren’t we… right now I just want to go to my local for a socially distant pub lunch and be allowed beyond my 5 km limit to enjoy the odd daytrip somewhere or other…. I’ve forgotten what its like to actually socialize!! This better end soon or I’m going to end up totally odd!!!! 😅 😂 🤣
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Hi Marie. Yes I recall Dublin being full of coffee bars and many, if not all, must be doing takeaways. I bet Stephen’s Green, Merrion Square and the canal sides are busy.
Cleary’s, now Debenhams. The age of the department store is sure drawing to a close.
As a traveller your wings must feel very clipped.
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We had plenty of coffee options to start with but since the pandemic, there are hatches and mobile coffee trucks everywhere…. Haven’t been to Stephen’s Green in yonks but passed Merrion Square yesterday on the way in and it was deserted … not a soul…. really weird.
I’ve shut down my travel function brain lobes (which – to be honest – is most of them 😅 😂 🤣). I’m assuming I won’t get away in 2021 – right now, anyone I’ve spoken to is hoping at best for domestic travel this summer. If its like last summer with hotels functioning and restaurants open it won’t be too bad. Difference is …. a lot of people didn’t do anything last year so we’d no problem getting accommodation and restaurants at the last minute … that won’t happen this summer…
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Yes, come to think of it, there will be fewer people in town (workers, tourists) so it stands to reason the parks would be quieter. I guess more coffee joints are chasing lower numbers. There again, I imagine the coffee joints are operating with minimum staff. Sad for those who have lost these jobs, no matter how badly paid.
Yes, hopefully the hospitality industry will survive with the home market. We saw signs of this in Jersey last year.
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Its been so hard for them all….. they need a half decent season to even survive beyond 2021…. There’s been no winter business to keep hotels ticking over – weddings, mini breaks, etc. practically non existent. No St. Patrick’s Day celebrations again which usually bring in huge trade… They need a lucky break soon…..
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The local economy is certainly changing and I worry it will never be the same with many businesses closing. In the meantime, take away and pubs being off-licences are all well and good (we don’t get delivery in the countryside) but alongside TV on demand and social media too, will we ever be sociable again?
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Good question. The number of pubs that have closed (everywhere) in the last 20 years seem to point to a change in socialising habits. 2020 have forced us even further apart. You can easily imagine how people find a ‘new normal’ in keeping their distance, from strangers at least. It seems odd now to even think about jostling together at a football match or music festival. And are children now acquiring an over-cautious approach to anyone they don’t know? It doesn’t take long to break old habits.
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And we’re running our libraries on Order and Collect too at the moment. I do think this will have a long term detrimental effect on town centres – it’s hard to imagine they’ll return to what they were before.
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Yes, once people find there is a more convenient way of doing things they generally adopt it. Maybe that’s the way we’re evolving and Covid has just accelerated the process.
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It is amazing how quick some retailers have adjusted so quickly and I often see people clutching some takeaway drink – alas not so welcoming for them in the freezing cold of winter! Your mention of the fishermen reminded me of my grandfather who after retirement still fished every day and during the summer the tourists would be waiting for him to dock! My grandmother had to ‘put’ in her order the night before or else there would be nothing for the house!
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Yes, buying direct from the boats is an instance of turning back the clock rather than an evolution forced by circumstance. I wouldn’t know how to start with a fish if one was handed to me Being single I’m a typical convenience customer – one visit, all the shopping.
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Sounds like shopping in Jersey has become much more like shopping in the U.S. I’m still old-fashioned enough to go shopping in stores — not ordering online or having things delivered — but I don’t think I’m the norm.
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Most of our restaurants have switched to delivery but still have significant customers because we are not locked down. I go to the grocery store twice a week but it is typical of the US with lots of space to keep your distance. It used to be such a pleasure to go to the grocery store and talk to the regular staff and customers. Went to the hardware store today for fluorescent bulbs – hopefully all the masks worked. 🤞
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I see TX numbers are easing, albeit slowly. I wonder how long it will take for everyone to become comfortable with crowds again. I think masks will become almost standard, for a proportion of the population anyway.
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I think we are going to have a little spike after these devastating winter storms. 3 million people have had no power since Sunday in sub zero temperatures. We thought 16 hours was bad enough but didn’t realize how lucky we were. All vaccinations are halted, power is being diverted to hospitals and there are warming centers open. I went to the store yesterday and it was like the start of the pandemic – one in one out. Everyone was wearing masks but a bit too close.
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That was certainly alarming news Kerry, hope you guys are OK personally. That is just pushing the boundaries of what people can be expected to handle, but of course you must and you will.
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We are on a different power company and our power only went out for 16 hours and our water is still safe. It’s a disgrace that our state needs to fix. Ted Cruz flew to Cancun today – you can imagine how well that went down…
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Yes, it’s only when these events happen that systemic faults are laid bare and the cracks appear. Hopefully this will act as a kick in the rear. TX isn’t really built for cold weather is it? And yes, poor old Cruz is getting a right bashing on Twitter but politicians seem immune to bashings.
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“The Devil looks after his own” could apply to Cruz and friends. Ironically, one of the coldest parts around El Paso is on the Western Grid, not the Texas one. We have been snowed in in Amarillo in November. My grandfather grew up in the panhandle and it can be brutally cold. One more freezing night and then back to normal. Luckily Houstonians are very resilient.
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I think the “world” will never be the same as it was before the pandemic, and this is one of the ways we’ve changed. I never, ever wanted to order my groceries on-line. I liked going to the real store and picking out the fresh veggies and fruits and talking with the butcher, etc. Now? I think nothing of going on line for our local grocery store and hitting the buttons (the web site saves what I’ve bought previously so a lot of it is repeats, and easy to do). And lo and behold, an hour later my groceries are delivered outside my door, with a masked smile. Hmmm. This may be the new way to go, forever. Maybe not every time, but enough to make a difference. I cook almost every day, but to help our local restaurants, we do “take-out” at least once a week. Chinese one week, Pizza another. And on special occasions (like the upcoming Valentine’s Day) we’ll order from a lovely fancy restaurant nearby, pick it up, and eat at our own well-dressed table. ;-0
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Thanks Pam. I suppose I won’t change personally simply because I’m within such a short distance from good shops. But even here I know that people have got out of the habit of physical shopping. At least you still cook from fresh which (I fear) not everyone does these days.
I have a worry about our Chinese takeaways in that they will soon disappear, as most of Jersey’s Italian restaurants have done. The children have no interest in following in their parents’ footsteps.
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That’s so sad. Here in the Boston area Chinese food is BIG- and the take out for Chinese food … and pizza … is always busy. But I do prefer to cook fresh “homemade.”
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Well, fast food generally is desperately unhealthy and too many people eat too much of it. I try to limit myself to maybe one visit a week.
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Please don’t ask me about the amazing pizza I had for dinner last night. Please. The one with pepperoni and spinach and roasted red peppers and mushrooms. Just don’t ask.😜
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Same here Roy, some bar in the evillage do cocktails and pints to go😳
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It’s been the same where I live in the US (and yes, it’s “takeout” here). I’ve been to Center City only once in twelve months–I used to go almost daily–and it was a ghost town. Restaurants and shops are starting to open up again, but I have a feeling many have closed for good or transitioned to online sales.
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