Harveys of Halifax was the voice of independents in an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme on Saturday (June 13) in advance of the ‘grand re-opening’ of ‘non-essential’ shops in England today (June 15).
Tracy Harvey, managing director of the independent department store in Halifax joined intu’s Alison Niven, centre director Manchester Trafford Centre (home to Selfridges, Lakeland and John Lewis) to talk about the measures in place for store re-openings.
For its first phase of reopening, Harveys of Halifax has re-opened just two floors (out of five) today, comprising three of its departments: Home & Gift, which includes its well-stocked Cookshop, along with Cosmetics and Summer Shop. Each department is currently “standalone”, with separate entrances and no access to other areas of the store.
Tracy emphasised the importance of upholding high levels of customer experience despite new ways of shopping. “We’re limiting the numbers of people so they can enjoy a more flexible experience in the store,” she stated, explaining that shoppers will be able to “walk and explore more freely.”
She acknowledged the challenges for staff – some of which have been at the store for 30 years – who have to “break habits of a lifetime” in order to help customers under the new guidelines. “It’s going to take some getting used to,” said Tracy. All of Harvey’s staff members have undergone rigorous training on the new procedures.
When asked whether Harveys would be ready to welcome Boris Johnson should he visit on his consumer confidence building shopping tour this week, Tracy said that staff would recognise the PM, and therefore be able to address him by name, in keeping with the store’s high standards of personal service. “We’re known for our personal customer service,” Tracy said, highlighting that the store knows a great many of its customers by name.
Looking forward to welcoming back familiar faces, Tracy acknowledged that some customers typically visited Harveys on a daily basis. During lockdown, the store has been providing “personal shopping” (by phone or email) with free delivery for local customers in addition to its ecommerce site.
According to Harvey’s, its Cookshop boasts ‘great service and a modern, relaxed environment,’ with a ‘great selection of cookware, bakeware, cutlery, crockery and kitchen accessories,’ and its very tempting ‘famous ‘gadget wall.’
Meanwhile, intu’s Alison Niven said (during the Radio 4 interview) that the company has “done everything we can to make centres safe places,” for example social distancing measures in the Trafford Centre’s carparks.
Top: Harveys of Halifax – the family owned department store opened in 1951.
