This is when Harvey Nichols will reopen in Leeds

Harvey Nichols Leeds will open later this week, with customers invited to make an appointment to be guided around the store. Stephanie Smith reports.
Harvey Nichols LeedsHarvey Nichols Leeds
Harvey Nichols Leeds

Harvey Nichols has announced that it will reopen its doors on Briggate in Leeds this Thursday, with coronavirus restrictions in place that will make shopping at the high-end department store a very different experience from pre-lockdown browsing and buying.

The Leeds store is the second Harvey Nichols branch in the UK to reopen, following the reopening of its flagship Knightsbridge branch last month, as part of a phased reopening of the rest of its stores throughout the summer.

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Customers are being asked to book a time slot to visit the store to benefit from a new fast-track queuing system with a style advisor on hand to help navigate the departments and help with enquiries. Harvey Nichols said that, for its Knightsbridge store, customers are allowed to visit without an appointment as long as capacity has not been reached. It is assumed that Leeds will operate a similar system.

Chief operating officer Manju Malhotra said: "While we will be fully adhering to new health and safety measures to protect both customers and staff, we will be focusing on what we do best, which is providing a high level of personal service."

Last month Harvey Nichols issued the following guidelines on the reopening of its Knightsbridge store:

"You may be asked to enter and exit through specific doors and be directed to flow through the store to support social distancing.

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Social distancing measures will be in place with signage to support as you navigate through the store.

Toilets are available for customers with social distancing in place.

Hand sanitiser will be available for you to use.

The number of customers, in store or specific areas, will be monitored to ensure the safety of our customers and staff.

You will see increased hygiene practices and cleaning disciplines.

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Please use escalators and stairs. Lifts will be available for wheelchairs, pushchairs and people with mobility issues.

Our Restaurants and Bars will remain closed for the time being, and will reopen when it is safe to do so.

Beauty teams will be on hand to advise you on product, however testers will not be available for you to try.

Fitting rooms will be open, and returned items will be quarantined for 48 hours before returning to the sales floor.

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Shoes and Accessories will be hygienically cleaned before returning to the sales floor.

Contactless payment is preferred, however there will be a restricted number of tills where cash payment can be made.

Working practices of our staff have been reviewed to ensure their safety and wellbeing with training to support them.

If you have ve used the booking system then visits are for 60 minutes, however we would love you to stay as long as you want so they can be extended if the store hasn not reached capacity.

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Our booking system is for customers who want to book in advance to ensure that we have space for them. If the store is not at capacity we welcome visits on the day without a booking.

There will be hourly cleaning for all key customer touch points, including the toilet facilities and changing rooms.

Each customer will be assisted by a staff member, either in the fitting room or the shop floor (eg. outerwear)."

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