'We are all buzzing to be back' - Waverley Mall shop staff rejoice as centre reopens

Shop staff at one of the city’s central shopping centres rejoiced as they opened for business for the first day since the country went into lockdown.

Waverley Mall in Edinburgh’s centre opened its doors to the public on Monday giving shops the chance to welcome back customers after almost four months of being closed.

Evening News visited several businesses as the shopping centre reopened to hear how it felt from the staff’s perspective.

Alana Shaw, team leader at The Body Shop in Waverley Mall, said the staff are “buzzing” to be back.

"Getting our first few customers coming back in has been great,” the 34-year-old said.

"We are all buzzing to be back and working. It’s good to be able to set an alarm for the morning and know you’re getting up to go to work again.

"It takes a moment or two to find your feet, it’s definitely very strange being back, and making sure we are doing everything to keep customers safe, but it’s about time we came back.”

Laird Strang, manager of the Post Office in Waverley Mall, said: “It feels great for us because we have been closed for 16 weeks.

"We just wanted to get back into the routine as quickly as possible, in a safe way of course.

"There’s a danger if you’re out of business for so long that it just won’t pick up again.

"I have been in the post industry for 39 years so it’s certainly good to be back.”

Ana Alvarez, manager of Flying Tiger, said while her team are cautious about businesses reopening, they have the shop set up and ready to welcome back customers in a safe way.

"We are of course a little bit nervous about the situation,” the 27-year-old said.

"But we are very excited to be back here again, working together, and welcoming people back into the shop.

"We were all furloughed, but now we are all back and I really think everyone is happy to be getting back to a slightly more normal life.”

David Redfern, who manages Starbucks in Waverley Mall said he is pleased all the staff are able to return to work after having almost four months of uncertainty.

"We are lucky that everyone could come back to work,” he said.

"It’s the first day, but the set up we have seems to be working fine so far. Luckily it’s very flexible so we can change it as in when.

"We also have a lot of space so can assure customers can use this branch in a safe way.”

Rory McNamara, 32, manages Born in Scotland, one of Waverley Mall’s few independent businesses.

"It’s so nice being back and interacting with customers again,” he said.

"It’s good for both staff and customers, being active again and getting out to do things.

"And throughout lockdown I have been keeping in touch with the small businesses who supply us with their products which has been really good because it’s important to keep up communication when business seems so uncertain.”

Born in Scotland sells products from small, independent businesses, provided they have a Scottish theme.

Personalised, witty signage has appeared in the shop’s window featuring references to Scottish figures including Nicola Sturgeon and Sean Connery.

Mark Christie, from Penicuik, manages Damaged Society and said he feels excited to be back working, but is still cautious about customer and staff safety.

"I am 50/50 to be honest about reopening,” Mark said.

“Of course everyone is quite worried about it and the virus spreading, but then again it’s good to get back to a sense of normality.

"And so far people do seem to be following the rules automatically – pretty much everyone is in masks and following the social distancing signs."

Mark has been working throughout lockdown sorting online orders for the business and doing occasional maintenance in the shop.

Damaged Society now sell masks in line with the company’s branding and other coronavirus related safety items are on sale including hand sanitiser.

Jeswin Anand, 26, manages Mobile + in the shopping centre and said while it is exciting to be back, he thinks business will not pick up for at least a couple more weeks.

"People are still quite nervous about coming back to the shops,” Jeswin said.

“So I don’t expect to see much business until August when hopefully things will get a little busier.

"The security guys have done such a great job setting this place up to make sure customers can social distance when they come back.”

Paul Hampson, founder of Rainbow Bubble Tea, which is located in the downstairs part of the shopping centre, said: “We are a little cautious but just glad to be able to reopen again.

"We really rely on people using public transport and a lot of people are using their cars now for safety reasons, which is going to be noticeable for us.”

The quirky cafe opened for the first time in May last year and has been benefiting from travellers going through Waverley station.

“We are really going to miss the Edinburgh Fringe visitors this year because they are always great for business,” Paul added.

"But hopefully tourism will pick up in the next few weeks and come August it will start to feel a bit more normal.

"It’s been great having staff back, we will just see how things go.”

Shopping centres were given the go ahead to reopen from Monday, July 13 after Nicola Sturgeon announced last week that Scotland was ready to enter phase three.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism.

Subscribe to the Edinburgh Evening News online and enjoy unlimited access to trusted, fact-checked news and sport from Edinburgh and the Lothians. Visit https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Joy Yates

Editorial Director