After Dire Year England’s Shops Hope for End-of-Lockdown Shopping Spree

A man walks a dog in front of a closed retail unit ahead of next week's planned reopening, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in St Albans, Britain, on April 8, 2021. Peter Cziborra/Reuters

LONDON—After more than three months of enforced closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, non-essential stores in England reopen their doors on Monday, hoping that the escape from lockdown will fuel a trading boom.

Industry lobby group, the British Retail Consortium, estimates UK stores have lost £27 billion ($37 billion) in sales over three lockdowns, while 67,000 retail jobs were shed in 2020 alone.