What’s going on with luxury retail? As in, why is it going on? With every public official and medical and scientific expert out there pleading with people to avoid all nonessential public encounters that require physical interaction closer than that six-foot distance, how can the lords of luxury continue to keep their doors open for business in locales where governments haven’t mandated closure?
People need some of what Walmart sells — food, groceries, pharmaceuticals. Ditto, Target, CVS and Walgreens, all now partnered with the federal government in trying to stem the coronavirus crisis. Workers at such retailers — sales associates, managers, stock people, security, delivery, all of them — are now in the same category as health-care providers: Their work is essential. They are at risk for the greater good, and God willing, their employers are doing everything possible to ensure their good health. (A monetary bonus during or at the end of the crisis would be nice, too.)
But Dior? Chanel? Ralph Lauren? Prada? Nobody needs what they sell; by definition, luxury is a world of want, not need. For what greater good are their retail employees now endangering themselves and, should one become infected, everyone she or he comes in
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