Birmingham’s shoppers returned to the high street as queues formed outside “non-essential” retail names such as Zara, H&M, Sports Direct and Primark. But any business hoping for a Christmas-style consumer frenzy would have been disappointed.

Despite an array of heavy discounts designed to lure shoppers into central Birmingham, New Street station was quiet and shoppers said they had no trouble finding a parking spot. Nonetheless, the city’s main shopping district was busier than it had been for months and shoppers were prepared to queue up outside stores, as retailers enforced limited numbers inside outlets to ensure physical distancing could take place in shops.

“It’s good to get out and have a bit of normality. I’ve been coming into town fairly often and it was like a ghost town. It is a bit weird to see people again,” said Simone Radway, 37, who was queuing to buy some cycling gear in Sports Direct after a trip to the nearby Primark.

David Mann, the manager of the Birmingham branch of independent chain Slater Menswear, said he thought trade would pick up over the week as shoppers gained confidence. “One man came in and bought three suits this morning. People are saying they have put on weight and need new clothes. We’ve had a lot of queries on the phone asking us is it safe to come in and have we got enough room.”

The restrictions meant waiting more than an hour to get into some favoured stores and there were few places to try on clothes, as changing rooms remained shut in most shop. At the Apple store there was a two-hour wait for the technical support desk.

The Bull Ring shopping centre was relatively quiet as its coffee shops and restaurants were still shut, while stores including its large Debenhams and Victoria’s Secret are shuttered after calling in administrators. Nevertheless, physical distancing was all but impossible on the mall’s escalators as shoppers got used to a new one-way system.

Teenager Anisa and her three friends said they were first in the queue for Primark after arriving in town at 4am. “We wanted to be first but there wasn’t a massive queue,” said Anisa. “I wanted to get some joggers and some earrings.”

While the queue was shifting quickly outside Primark after opening time, there were large queues inside as people waited to pay. More than 60 people per floor were waiting half an hour or more in physically distanced lines winding their way across the store. Half the store’s tills were shut to ensure distancing for staff, who were protected behind new screens.

Shoppers said that they had felt reassured by hand sanitiser pumps placed by many shop doors and at the entrance to the Bull Ring shopping centre. Some were concerned that not everyone was wearing masks, but others felt happy that shopping under the new rules was not a dramatically different experience to before.

“It felt quite normal, it was quite a relief,” said Sharon Mitchell, 54, after her first trip to a clothing shop in months, to buy a Zara dress she’d seen in the shop window just before lockdown.

“I was here at 8am. It’s not as busy as I expected. It’s the first day off I’ve had since before lockdown. I’ve been working right through. I thought it would be a memorable day and I would come and check it out.”

Other shoppers said that they had mixed feelings about the return to the high street, given the uncertain economic environment. “I’m spending more money, but it gets you out of the house,” said Kam, a shopper queuing outside Zara.

• This article was amended on 16 June 2020 to remove from personal details.