Northampton schoolwear shop shuts website temporarily and sees huge queues outside store during back to school rush

A Northampton school uniform shop has seen overwhelming demand in the last few days before term starts.

The Schoolwear Shop in Abington Square had a long queue outside its town centre shop yesterday (August 31) as parents stocked up on their little one’s uniform before the return to school later this week or early next week.

As well as in-store business being through the roof, the company has also had to temporarily shut its website due to the ‘peak trade’ that occurs in the ‘last three days’ before back to school.

The website shows live stock figures, however customers are purchasing in-store before the web orders can be picked.

A statement on the shop’s website says: “Website temporarily closed until further notice.

“Unfortunately due to the peak trade which occurs the last three days before back to school, we have taken the decision to close the website.

“The website details accurate live stock figures, however, the customers visiting the store are purchasing items before we can pick the paid-for web orders.

“Web orders at this stage would not arrive before back to school now anyway as the cut off date has now passed.”

Nationally, areas have been affected by school uniform shortages following the pandemic, likely due to supply issues, which have been seen in many other industries such as hospitality, too.

Some parents have struggled to buy certain uniform items, resulting in long queues across the country.