Which B&Q stores are open today due to coronavirus and can you order online?
B&Q has reopened half of its UK stores after temporarily closing all branches due to coronavirus.
The hardware retailer has confirmed 155 shops are open for business.
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Which B&Q stores are open?
Hardware stores have been labelled “essential” during the coronavirus crisis.
B&Q has 155 stores open to the public to shop in – you can find the list of open branches here.
These stores are open from 8am until 5pm, although times may vary between branches.
B&Q is limiting the number of customers in the stores at any one time, and has installed screens at checkouts and floor markers to help social distancing.
Customers visiting the stores will only be able to buy products that are available to take away on the day.
Services such as kitchen and bathroom design, paint mixing, timber cutting and key cutting are not available for the time being.
B&Q will also only be accepting card and contactless payments.
B&Q has 296 shops around the UK.
Other stores are open for click and collect only and browsing or purchasing is not permitted.
It initially closed stores after B&;Q workers expressed anger over being forced to “risk their health so customers could buy garden furniture”.
However, after monitoring other stores’ social distancing measures, the hardware chain initially reopened 14 branches on the weekend of April 18/19,
A further 61 branches reopened on April 22, with an additional 80 stores opening on April 23.
Which brands are shutting up shop
HERE is the list of all the retailers that have said they are closing their doors due to coronavirus
- Boden – closing all stores
- Burton – closing all stores
- Calvin Klein – closing all stores
- Clarks – closing all stores
- Costa – reopened four stores
- Dorothy Perkins – closing all stores
- Evans – closing all stores
- Fenwick – closing all stores
- H&M – closing all stores
- HMV – closing all stores
- IKEA – closing all stores
- John Lewis – closing all stores
- McDonald’s – closing all stores
- Miss Selfridge – closing all stores
- Nando’s – closing all stores
- Oxfam – closing all stores
- Patisserie Valerie – closing all stores
- Starbucks – closing all stores
- Sweaty Betty – closing all stores
- Timpson – closing all stores
- TK Maxx – closing all stores
- Topshop – closing all stores
- Wallis – closing all stores
Can I order online at B&Q?
Shoppers can order essentials from B&Q’s website .
But it is unable to accept bulk orders and customers may be placed in an online queue, sometimes over an hour.
Customers can choose between home delivery and click and collect.
B&Q shoppers can get orders delivered directly to homes or via click and collect from local stores where items are brought to cars to minimise contact with staff in stores.
For click and collect, B&Q has opened safe spaces outside closed stores for the public to collect their items.
However, some stores have temporarily stopped click and collect services.
We’d recommend calling up your nearest branch to check they still offer this service.
Click and collect orders have been limited to essential products for the repair and maintenance of homes.
But B&Q has now added plant and gardening bundles to its list of items available for click and collect.
Graham Bell, B&Q’s chief executive said: “We urge customers to follow all the government’s social distancing guidelines and to shop responsibly for essential needs only.
“The safety of our customers and colleagues remains our top priority.”
B&Q temporarily took its website down at the end of March due to an “unprecedented” number of visitors trying to order goods online.
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In other shopping news, John Lewis has shut all of its 50 shops.
While Ikea also closed its UK shops because of the virus outbreak.
And McDonald’s has closed all 1,350 restaurants in the UK and Ireland.
Meanwhile, Costa closed all of its branches, before reopening four for delivery or drive thru on April 24.
While restaurant chain Nando’s has also shut its branches.
Cafes, pubs, bars and restaurants have been closed since Friday, March 20, following orders by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
But they are still allowed to serve takeaways.
Take a look at The Sun Vouchers to see if you can get extra savings with voucher codes for B&Q and hundreds of other retailers.