The Guardian view on post-lockdown retail: low spirits on the high street | Editorial

Shops shutting, jobs lost, landlords wiped out. The future of our community hubs looks bleak

Rarely does a cabinet minister salivate in public over fast food but on hearing yesterday that chicken chain Nando's is reopening dozens of branches, Rishi Sunak could not stop himself. The good news we've all been waiting for," the chancellor tweeted, his jauntiness somewhat out of place with a thoroughly bleak situation. He may hanker after a peri-peri hit, but the government hungers for something else besides: for normal life to resume, complete with its high-street staples. One way Boris Johnson sought to leaven his terrible week was to announce the reopening next month of all non-essential" shops. Leave aside the dangers of doing so without anything like a mass test-and-trace regime in place, and the prime minister is still likely to be sorely disappointed.

Some shops will never pull up their shutters again. By the time the retail lockdown ends, most will have been closed for 12 weeks, costing the industry over 21bn in lost sales, even before adding in overheads such as rent and staff costs. Longstanding retailers Oasis, Cath Kidston and Warehouse are all shutting down, while others, including John Lewis, have warned they may close branches. Those that do open their doors will find trading tricky. Clothes boutiques may not offer fitting rooms, bookshops may discourage browsing and all will have to maintain a decent distance between customers. For a very long time to come, shopping will not be normal.