Simon Property Group SPG yesterday posted news on its website that the mall operator had reopened 59 properties, with plans to have another 18 ready again for shoppers within the next week “with many more to follow.”
Business hours at the malls located in Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Florida and Kansas will not immediately return to their pre-pandemic norms. The shopping centers will be open between 11:00 and 7:00 Monday through Saturday and 12:00 to 6:00 on Sunday, allowing cleaning crews more time to sanitize door handles and other surfaces throughout.
Shoppers wearing protective masks walk through the re-opened Anderson Mall in Anderson, South … [+]
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Many on the RetailWire BrainTrust questioned if customers would be interested in returning to malls so soon in an online discussion last week.
“Not until there’s a vaccine,” wrote Paula Rosenblum, managing partner at RSR Research. “No. People do not know how to practice social distancing in malls. Certainly not where I live, and it’s fair to say not in many other cities. Can’t fix ignorance and I don’t think the non-ignorant will want to play.”
“With all respect to Simon, their words do not guarantee our safety,” wrote Ed Rosenbaum of Rainmaker Solutions. “Maybe, if they limited the number of people allowed in at a time, it would increase the likelihood of our being safe.”
Simon in fact says it “will utilize existing traffic measurement technologies … to ensure that overall property occupancy does not exceed a targeted level of 1 person per 50 square feet of space.” Management will limit the number of open entrances to each property “and have queueing protocols in place to manage traffic.”
Each mall will offer free infrared temperature testing for customers and CDC-approved face masks and packets of hand sanitizer for shoppers to use. The mall operator is taking steps, including limiting the seating in food courts and keeping play areas closed, to try and maintain proper social distancing. Simon employees are required to wear masks (customers are encouraged to do so) and to take frequent breaks to wash their hands.
“The stores’ and mall operators’ willingness to enforce safety is the key,” wrote Dick Seesel, principal at Retailing in Focus. “How many retailers are accustomed to turning away customers, or removing fixtures, in order to maintain safe social distancing? It’s not in their DNA.”
Some on RetailWire’s expert panel thought that these non-essentials retailers, if opened correctly, would not be any greater cause for concern than what we’ve already grown used to.
“If Walmart WMT and Costco are operating, busy and as thriving as they have ever been, I don’t see how a mall environment is any more risky, with the same or better level of precautions,” wrote Suresh Chaganti, executive partner at VectorScient. “For instance I don’t see either Walmart or Costco offering masks or infrared temperature checks yet.”
It is not known how many retail tenants plan to follow Simon’s lead and reopen stores. Many retailers, particularly department stores and specialty clothing chains, have been hit hard by store closures, and some have withheld rent payments in an effort to maintain liquidity. Even those reluctant to reopen in states where the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to climb may feel they have no choice if they wish to remain viable as a business.
“It depends on where you live,” wrote retail thought leader Ken Morris. “There is a big disconnect between states where the pandemic has hit hardest and those that have not yet experienced the wave. The question is will the wave be a mild swell or a tsunami.”
BrainTrust members further pointed out that the pre-pandemic difficulties of shopping malls will be compounded by today’s economic realities.
“I think there will be people that go to malls because they want to get out of the house,” wrote Stephen Rector, president of BakerTown Consulting. “Whether or not that turns into sales is another question – I still struggle with thinking there is really pent-up demand for non-essentials at this point in time.”
“Ultimately, it’s not just a matter of getting people back through the doors,” wrote Neil Saunders, managing director at Global Data. “You also have to get them spending, which will be quite a task given the amount of damage done to people’s finances and confidence during this crisis.”