Malls plan reopenings with coronavirus caution

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This article was published 29/04/2020 (1605 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While some non-essential retail businesses are allowed to reopen Monday, Winnipeg’s malls can open only one entryway.

Grant Park and Kildonan Place shopping centres, and any retailers that reopen, will be required to implement a single-point-of-entry policy — all employees and customers will be required to come and go through one set of doors. At Kildonan Place, it will be at the Regent Avenue entrance near the State & Main restaurant, and at Grant Park, the west entrance near the Red River Co-Op store.

Peter Havens, the general manager of CF Polo Park, said in a prepared statement Thursday that, “Assuming we can meet all safety guidelines and precautions, we are aiming to open the shopping centre on Monday, May 4.”

Garden City Shopping Centre intends to open with regular business hours, a spokesperson said. But the popular food court will have its tables and chairs removed, as will those fixtures in other common seating areas.

Like all businesses, the city’s shopping centres — some of the largest retail operations in Winnipeg — were caught slightly off-guard by the province’s announcement this week that Manitoba is easing retail restrictions starting Monday. And while small businesses face unique challenges with reopening, so do malls, which routinely draw hundreds of visitors each day. Many frequent guests are seniors.

Total occupancy will be reduced by half, the province has ordered, while staff and customers must be able to keep two metres apart. Other orders include no buffets, no condiments on the table, and no refills of drinks.

The move to reopen non-essential businesses, including salons, restaurant patios and malls, is not a declaration that the risk of COVID-19 transmission is gone.

“We still need to be cautious,” Dr. Brent Roussin said. “I don’t think there’s any business that wants to be responsible for spreading the virus, to themselves or to employees.”

In a statement sent to the Free Press, Patrick Sullivan, the chief operations officer of Primaris Management, which oversees Grant Park and Kildonan Place, said the company “fully supported” the phased approach for a return to regular business.

Sullivan said the company would take immediate action to get ready for the return of customers: hand sanitizer stations will be installed throughout each property; safety signage and “visual reminders” about physical distancing will be as well. Increased deep-cleaning will be done, the number of seats in the malls have been reduced and common areas have been dispersed.

Wheelchairs and strollers won’t be available for lending, as they were before. Protective barriers will be installed at guest services and at the food court sorting station, and operating hours will be reduced for the time being. Curbside pickup spots will be designated to reduce entry, and strict sick policies will be put in place, Sullivan said.

Garden City says it’s taking similar precautions: increased cleaning of door handles and fixtures, more hand sanitizer, restricted access to “high touch” services like kiddie rides, and cancelled events.

While the malls are opening, tenants have the option to open, open with reduced hours, or stay closed.

The potential of the new measures to continue effective containment lies in the public’s hands. On Wednesday, Roussin reiterated that if Manitobans are sick, they should stay home.

“If you’re ill, you shouldn’t be working, and if you’re ill you shouldn’t be going to get your haircut,” he said. “We’re going to need to continue to rely on Manitobans to adhere to that.”

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca