The streets were busy in the centre of St Helier, especially King Street, with many shoppers said they felt safe with the measures put in place to ensure social distancing.
Socially-distanced queues had formed outside a handful of shops, including JD Sports and Marks and Spencer, where staff were stood at the door letting people in at intervals.
Suzanne Wilson, a health and safety manager from St Helier, was shopping on her lunch break.
‘It looks quite busy out there but it seems reasonably well controlled,’ she said. ‘I am not sure people are understanding the one-way system though. It is nice to see businesses open again.’
Signs had been put up around St Helier to keep on the left to keep people apart.
Alan McKechnie, who lives in St Lawrence, said there had been a big queue at Marks and Spencer and while the food section of the store ‘was fine’, the upstairs had been ‘crazy’.
Jersey Heritage curation and experience director Louise Downie, from St Clement, had been at Voisins department store.
‘It’s nice to see people, even in the distance,’ she said. ‘Everyone has been really good at wearing masks in the shops.’
There was also a noticeable police presence on the streets, keeping an eye on people and checking in with shop owners.
As part of the Covid-safety measures put in place in St Helier, floor signs and chevrons denoting two-metre spacing have been installed while shoppers are being advised to wear masks when walking through town, not just inside shops.
Tim Murphy, owner of clothing shop Murphy’s, said it was ‘nice to be open again’ and that business was ‘not bad’.
‘Before, I expected customers to be nervous but they do not seem to be,’ he said.
Speaking about Jersey’s Covid case numbers, which dropped to 89 yesterday, Mr Murphy added: ‘The numbers are down and hopefully we can keep them down so we can stay open all year.’
For shoppers and shop owners there was a sense that they wanted things to go back to normal, and this was one step in the right direction.
Graeme Le Maistre sports shop offered a click-and-collect service during the restrictions but opened up fully yesterday, with owner Steve Arthurs saying it had been a ‘good morning’.
British Red Cross shop manager Gwen Bryden said it was ‘good to be open’. She had also been letting any shoppers with masks below their noses know about it.
It had been ‘quieter than usual’ but the reopening was a ‘little bit more back to normal’. ‘We just want our lives back, like everybody else,’ she added.
Elisabeth Mardon, who owns the Fox & Whistle, said as a tourism-based giftshop she ‘expected it to be very quiet’.
‘It has been like this since last year,’ the owner said, calling it a ‘very difficult situation’ that she was taking one day at time.
‘Another year like last year and not many businesses are going to survive,’ she added. ‘I hope there is some light at the end of the tunnel for everybody.’
