Like hundreds of other retail business owners in Greater Victoria shuttered due to the pandemic, Teri Hustins is eager to open.
But Hustins, who owns three downtown stores, is taking a cautious approach, as the province eases restrictions for retailers and allows most to reopen on Tuesday after almost two months of papered-up windows and locked doors.
Hustins plans to put off opening her Oscar & Libby’s novelty store on Fort Street and Kaboodles kids’ store on Government Street until the end of May, while she remodels the stores, gradually brings back staff and develops distancing and sanitizing protocols.
Her second Oscar & Libby’s location, in Market Square, will stay closed until early July.
“We’re being very methodical, very cautious in terms of bringing staff back and how we can best serve our customers safely,” Hustins said Thursday.
It’s the same story at many of the region’s stores, which are looking at a slow ramp-up to reopening with reconfigured store layouts and merchandise displays to ensure safe physical-distancing.
Hustins and partner Andrew Millen are redesigning the Kaboodles store by widening aisles and reducing shelving to improve sightlines and distancing for customers. They are also providing hand sanitizers and gloves for viewing greeting cards, and installing transparent plastic barriers.
Reopening can’t come too soon for the couple. They’ve lost 80% of their revenue and had to lay off 14 staff since they closed their stores in March. But they’ve been able to sell some products online with help from local tech firm Pixel Union, which set up a sales platform. Luckily, major orders of popular items such as Lego arrived just prior to the pandemic, before supply lines were squeezed off.
Jeff Bray, executive director of the Downtown Victoria Business Association, said gradual reopenings will be a common theme among retailers.
“Not everyone will open Tuesday,” he said. “Many will soft launch over the next several weeks and ease into it with limited hours. Work will be done to ramp up as demand increases.”
He said recalling staff will likely be phased in, based on demand from customers.
“Retailers are extremely aware that it has to be a safe and welcoming experience for customers and staff,” said Bray. “We’re helping businesses gather information on consistent procedures so they know how many people to allow into a store, what signage to [post], how to handle merchandise … everything a store has to do to keep customers and staff safe.”
The downtown association hopes provincial and local governments can assist businesses with some of the distancing challenges, including relaxing liquor-licensing requirements to allow more outside seating, and using public spaces, sidewalks and some roads to increase display areas for businesses.
Bray said using places such as Bastion Square or so-called “parklets,” where small patios spill into roads, would be helpful.
“Where can we expand capacity and vibrancy that are low impact to allow [businesses] to survive?” said Bray. “How does Europe do that? Can we? If we have no cruise ships this summer, this would help.”
Bray said some businesses have told him they are concerned about the availability of workers, who cite safety concerns as reasons for not returning to work, as well as reluctance to give up generous government benefits. “It will be a slow ramp-up, so the opportunity to return to work might not be there right away,” said Bray. As for government relief programs, “those won’t be there for forever.”
The region’s major shopping malls are also gearing up for reopening.
Laura Poland, manager of Mayfair — the largest mall on the Island, with more than 120 retailers — expects fewer than half the mall’s stores will be open by the end of the week. Mayfair never really closed, as it’s home to essential services, including two banks, a dental centre and accountants, but other businesses were shuttered.
Poland said there was no date as of Thursday for The Bay and Indigo, Mayfair’s two biggest stores, to reopen. Hudson’s Bay Company stores at Mayfair and downtown are currently only open for curbside pickup. Bay stores in Manitoba have opened after the provincial government gave retailers the green light last week.
Mayfair’s food court seating will remain closed but its 15 vendors will continue to sell takeout.
Poland said she expects smaller stores to start reopening in the shopping centre next week.
She said Mayfair is ramping up safety measures, including hiring extra security and cleaners to ensure distancing measures and cleanliness.
The mall is reconfiguring its parking lots for a curbside pickup, where participating retailers can fill online or phone orders and deliver to customers’ vehicles.
“Our primary focus is the health and safety of the people who work here and visit us,” said Poland. “We are taking the approach that we are going to meet or exceed standards.”
Kerry Shular, general manager at Hillside shopping centre, said not all shops or retailers inside the mall will open on Tuesday, saying openings are up to each store. “We expect it will be a trickle rather than a gush.”
In a memo to businesses, Shular said shoppers and retailers and their staffs will see “several differences” inside the mall.
Food-court seating will be reduced when it reopens, public washrooms are being reconfigured for physical distancing and all mall furniture, soft seating, children’s rides and vending machines have been removed.
Safe-distancing and direction floor decals have been installed, hand-sanitizing stations have been added; some customer services such as wheelchair and stroller loans will be unavailable.
Ventilation filters have been changed and fresh-air intake has been increased.
Hillside anchor tenants Canadian Tire, Thrifty Foods and Shoppers Drug Mart have remained open throughout the pandemic as essential services.
Shular would not comment on the space formerly occupied by Sears, where crews have been at work for several weeks. Reports say the space is being prepared for the region’s third Walmart store, but the company isn’t confirming it.
Tillicum Centre general manager Elyse Norgaard Kituri expects most of the Saanich mall’s stores to start reopening next week. Of the 40 stores at Tillicum, 15 have remained open as essential businesses.
The Silver City Cinema complex at Tillicum does not have a reopening date.
Meanwhile, Victoria’s Value Village store reopened last week, the first big thrift store to do so. The outlet on Store Street looks a little different, with fewer racks to increase open floor space. Fitting rooms have been closed and there’s a limit on the number of shoppers allowed in the store.
The company is extending its exchange policy to 14 days on clothing and shoes, allowing additional time to try items on at home.
The Salvation Army’s seven thrift stores in the region remain closed.
