What Leo Varadkar’s Level 5 comments mean for shopping for clothes...

On Monday evening, Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed that the country would be locked at level 5 for six weeks until December 1st.

This will be like the lock we had in April, but with a few minor differences.

The government has released a full breakdown of the restrictions detailing what we can and cannot do over the next few weeks.

These restrictions include a travel limit of 3 miles, although you are allowed to travel further to purchase essential items.

Major retail outlets will remain open during the lockdown, but the question of which parts of these supermarkets are allowed to remain open was a bit unclear.

Tanaiste and Economy Minister Leo Varadkar said this week that mixed retailers selling a range of different stocks should only sell items that are “essential”.

Varadkar added that it was “unfair” to other retailers to have to close their doors during the lockdown. He told RTE’s This Week: “[Retailers] must obey the rules and you must obey the spirit of the rules “.

“If you are a mixed retailer, you should segregate your inventory and only sell essential items.

“If you are in a supermarket or a large grocery and clothing store, separate clothing rather than sell it. Work clothes are fine, but general clothes [is] Not.

“We have contacted the Gardai and that will be enforced.

“If you’re selling important products, that’s one thing. If you are trying to use essential products as a means of opening your business to sell non-essential products, then it is wrong.

“This is not lawful and we will be bringing an enforcement action. It’s also unfair. Think of the number of small shops and retailers across the country that have closed. ”

And Gardai has visited stores across the country to enforce these new guidelines.

Over the weekend, officials visited pictures on their social media and visited an unnamed Dunnes store. They did not find any regular pants on site.

A Garda spokesperson said: “Gardaí is conducting compliance audits in retail stores to support the current COVID19 risk level 5 # measures.

“Under the current measures, retail businesses can only remain open for essential retail purposes. Together we can all make a difference. ”

The government recommends shopping at quieter times of the day if possible and ensuring that we keep a physical distance from other shoppers and only look for important goods.

Here are the actions some of our favorite stores have taken:

Dunnes Stores:

Dunnes Stores will close their clothing departments for the duration of the lockdown.

The supermarket remains open for “essential items and groceries” but does not sell clothes.

However, they added that customers will still be able to repair their clothes by clicking and collecting services and making online purchases.

Tesco:

A Tesco spokesperson said the clothing department will also be closed, with the exception of school clothes and baby clothes.

“We are following government guidelines and have closed our apparel and home entertainment R&F units across the country.

“We will continue to offer a very limited selection of important items for customers only, such as: B. School clothes and baby clothes. The safety of our customers and colleagues remains our top priority and we continue to adhere to public health guidelines. ”

Marks and Spencer:

Marks and Spencer will close their clothing and non-essential aisles through December 1st.

A statement on their website states: “To keep all of our customers and colleagues healthy, additional social distancing measures are being taken in our stores.

“Please be kind and give everyone space. The colleagues in our stores and in the supply chain have been provided with additional hygiene products and an additional cleaning is carried out to maintain our excellent standards for you and our teams. ”

They added that apparel employees had joined their food team over the next few weeks.

“Our standalone grocery stores and grocery halls in our larger stores are open as we do our part to ensure customers get the groceries they need.

“Colleagues from our Clothing & Home team are joining our food teams so that, despite the increased demand, we can continue to offer the magical and sparkling service that you can rely on at M&S.”

They added that customers don’t need to panic as their service is working normally for Christmas dinner to order. You will be able to place your order online for in-store pickup from December 22nd.