Primark and John Lewis to shut stores on day of Queen’s funeral

Retailers including Primark and John Lewis are to shut their stores next Monday due to the Queen’s funeral.

Primark confirmed it will shut all its 191 high street stores on Monday September 19, which has been confirmed as a bank holiday as the Queen’s state funeral takes place.

The value fashion chain said its stores will reopen for normal hours the following day.

A Primark spokeswoman said: “Our stores, depots and head office in the UK will be closed on Monday September 19 to give our colleagues the opportunity to pay their respects and watch the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

“We will reopen as normal on Tuesday September 20.”

Meanwhile, John Lewis confirmed that it will also shut all its stores as a mark of respect.

Parent business The John Lewis Partnership said it will shut John Lewis department stores and Waitrose supermarkets all day for the funeral.

Andrew Murphy, chief operating officer of The John Lewis Partnership, said: “We are deeply saddened by the death of Her Majesty The Queen.

“We will be closing our stores on the day of her funeral as a mark of respect, and because we believe this is the right thing to do for our partners and customers.”

It added that there may be “a very limited number of Waitrose stores” near to the route of the funeral procession which remain open to serve members of the public nearby.

It stressed that these shops would be closed during the funeral itself.

Retailers are not required to shut their doors on the day of the funeral, and others may choose to open for reduced hours, as many regularly do on other bank holidays.

The Government guidance is: “Some businesses may wish to consider closing or postponing events, especially on the day of the state funeral, however, this is at the discretion of individual businesses.”