Many shop owners will be forced to close their doors this week as parts of Scotland will be placed under level-four lockdown.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the toughest possible coronavirus rules have been placed on 11 council areas – mostly in the west of Scotland.
Non-essential shops, pubs, restaurants and gyms will have to close for at least three weeks from 6pm on Friday.
For many small stores, staff say the rule change couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Lyndsey McDermott, owner of Stirling’s Christmas store – Tinsel & Tartan, fears businesses are missing out on their busiest time of year.
She told STV News: “There’s absolutely nothing we can do.
“Nothing you can do, except push your online and try to keep each other’s spirits up.
“That is really important. Try to not get too doom and gloom about it because you can’t control it.
“You’ve still got to pay your bills and if you haven’t made enough money in the winter to pay for the lean month, as you would call it, then how do we get by?
“We’re not going to know until we are in it.
“Hopefully Government help will see us through.
“Some landlords for businesses have been reasonable. Others have definitely not and if they are still looking for full rent when we are not trading then what can we do?”
