British consumers have spent their six weeks of coronavirus lockdown sewing, drinking cocktails, carrying out home beauty treatments and eating large quantities of kimchi.
That’s according to a report from John Lewis Partnership PLC on the nation’s shopping behavior since March 23, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson told everyone to stay at home unless absolutely necessary. The partnership, which owns the John Lewis department store and Waitrose grocery chains beloved by the British middle classes, said "day-to-day life for Brits across the U.K. has been transformed as we’ve adapted to new ways of living.”
The research showed that sales of elastic at John Lewis have soared 15-fold as people make their own face masks, amid a shortage in the U.K. of personal protective equipment. In fact, "the nation’s love of haberdashery is stronger than ever with high demand for sewing machines, needlepoint and knitting yarn,” the retailer said in the report.
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