Aldi and Primark among stores to close for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral as mark of respect
Budget supermarket giant Aldi has announced it will be closing stores on the day of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral.
The chain tweeted it will not be opening next Monday as a mark of respect and to allow store colleagues to "pay their respects".
The Queen's funeral will take place on Monday, September 19, and the date has been made a public bank holiday.
Aldi follows a long line of big companies who have been announcing their closure on Monday, September 19. The funeral date has been declared an official Bank Holiday.
Retailers including Primark and John Lewis are also 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 are deeply saddened by the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. On behalf of everyone at Primark, we send our heartfelt condolences to the Royal Family for their loss."
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."
