‘Staff have been climbing the walls’: battered retailers get ready to reopen

In the Essex town of Harlow, shelves are being filled and bookings taken – but after last year’s false dawns, proprietors feel cautiousCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe air is thick with the smell of paint and toolboxes are stacked on the floor inside Cutting Edge Hair Design in Old Harlow, Essex.Owner Emma Stillwell, 37, decided to use the enforced closure during the latest lockdown to spruce up her hair salon in the historic part of the Essex com