Hello

Hope everyone is keeping well.

I would like to update everyone on how we will be proceeding with the future here at Minster Records.

I’ve had a few days now to take in and chew the fat over the guidelines that have been set out for small businesses to reopen at a possible June 15th date. I have decided that we will be “reopening” from July but it will only be as an appointment-only basis and the days we will be holding these will be Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays weekly. This will run until the end of August when I will assess how things are and whatever the guidelines are at that point.

This decision isn’t an easy one but there are difficulties and reasons why we can’t just open up as normal, firstly I will explain the difficulties. We are a tactile shop in which customers browse, that means you just don’t walk in for a specific item you tend to touch albums in all manner of sections. One of the government’s guidelines set out is that customers will be advised to only touch what they intend to buy, as you can imagine this is really difficult for us to adhere to. Anything touched then rejected, or returned is suggested to be placed away for up to 72hrs until returning to the display. Taking hundreds of items out after each customer isn’t practical.

We have a new business opening next door and a residential building at the other side so any potential queuing would affect these premises and as we are situated in a very narrow path, any queue would mean other pedestrians having to step on the road to get by which wouldn’t be safe.

So how the appointment basis will work.

Each Friday, Saturday and Sunday we will have allocated time slots of 30 minutes that will start from 9 am and the last one being at 4pm. In between appointments, I will leave a further 30 minutes in order to clean and disinfect surfaces etc. We will provide Vinyl gloves that each customer must wear or if these cause any irritating or medical issues then you can use the hand sanitizer provided. A facial covering or mask will be advised if you have one. You will be asked in that if you have any symptoms that you avoid booking a slot and follow the government guidelines.

This will run until August and then I will take stock of how it’s going and how things are around the advice at that time. If this “new normal” lasts for a substantial amount of time further into the year and so on, then the whole reason why I opened a shop and have strived to provide a community hub will be compromised. I thrive on the fact people could just walk in off the street, browse chat and so on and see the shop full of people on a daily basis gave me a sense of pride. But if that can’t happen for many months then I don’t see that being enjoyable to you or to me. We have been working online since we closed, and thank you to all that have supported me on that. That will continue as and when new stock arrives, but it’s maybe the way ahead and I have until the next lease renewal clause to consider that being so.

If you have any question or would like to book an appointment, contact information can be found below.

I will be updating Facebook should anything change.

Stay safe, stay well. 

Minster Records