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It was 23 nights before Christmas and all over Kent, people were shopping late into the night.
Those are not the words of a horrible nursery rhyme, but a reflection of the fact that Primark by Bluewater has made the unusual decision to open for 24 hours straight.
Kent was plunged into Level 3 restrictions yesterday (Dec 2), meaning stores could open for holiday shopping and Primark bosses were eager to capitalize on the holiday fever.
As a result, hundreds of people flocked to the mall after work was done to take advantage of the last few hours.
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‘I hope he’s not too busy’
(Image: KentLive)
When we arrived at 10:50 pm, the parking lot was full of activity.
We decided to go inside to find out what kind of people do their Christmas shopping late into the night.
At the entrance, we met Rebecca and Laura, both 37, who had made the trip from Strood on the spur of the moment.
“We only decided to go down an hour ago,” Rebecca explained, “we thought why not?”
(Image: KentLive)
The all-night Primark concept is understandably new to the couple, and Laura confesses that she’s not sure what to expect.
She said: “I don’t know how busy it is going to be. We’ve seen a lot of people go out, but I hope it’s calmer inside.
“We just came to pick up some Christmas things.”
Primark was rammed
(Image: KentLive)
Unfortunately, the mall is anything but quiet.
Although all the stores are closed, there is a constant stream of shoppers, some in small groups and others alone, wandering towards Primark, which is flanked by crowd control personnel.
Once we’ve gone inside and sanitized our hands, the view is something to behold.
(Image: KentLive)
The store is packed with customers moving through the aisles to browse the endless selection of clothing.
Display tables are littered with discarded garments, and store assistants rush through the fray to help and direct customers.
Two large queues have formed in the center of the store, stretching around the store.
If you were to estimate how many people were in each one, it would be hundreds, making social distancing almost impossible.
(Image: KentLive)
Floating next to one of the snakes, we speak to Sally, who has traveled from Dartford with her daughter to participate in the shopping.
She works as a chef and tells us that her work hours mean she can’t shop at convenient hours.
She explained: “We really haven’t gotten very far.
“My daughter told me about night shopping, so we thought we could do it too.
“I work late into the night, so this is one of my only opportunities to buy things for my grandchildren.”
‘I’ve come from London to learn some basics’
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Considering Kent’s ignominious position as the only level 3 area in the southeast, the number of people in the shop seems hard to justify.
And surprisingly, it’s not just local people who have been drawn to the mall for late-night shopping.
Grace Diver, 22, tells us that she traveled from South London Level 2 after learning about the event on Instagram.
The government has discouraged all inter-tier travel except for work, education, youth services, receiving medical treatment or care responsibilities.
(Image: KentLive)
Grace admits that is not the reason she has come.
She explained: “I needed to get some basic and essential things.
“It’s not as bad as I thought it would be, I thought it was going to be fuller than this.”
‘We come for the experience’
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Alys Cratchley, 26, and Lorrisa Harris Jones, 21, also left the Bexley Tier 2 district to enjoy a piece of the action.
After starving for shopping trips for a month under the second lockdown, Alys says they found the prospect of a 24-hour Primark “exciting.”
She said: “We have come for the experience. It’s exciting.”
“In fact, we wanted to come at 2 to prevent people from coming on the buses,” added Lorrisa.
Like many of the other shoppers, Alys works irregular hours as a delivery girl and enjoys the opportunity to take her time with her purchases.
She said: “We don’t have a lot of time to buy, so we want to get as much of it as possible to make it worthwhile after waiting in line for so long.
“It’s nice to be able to walk without being rushed.”
(Image: KentLive)
After scanning the aisles ourselves and then looking back at the ever-increasing queue, we decided it wasn’t worth the hassle and headed out of the store.
As we walk towards the parking lot, we see a series of vehicles leaving the site.
The spaces they have occupied are quickly filled with a flow of new customers as the 24-hour Level 3 shopping spree continues into the night.
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