PENT-UP DEMAND FINALLY FULFILLED
Customers in northern Pa. shop at newly reopened stores
Behind a Plexiglas shield, Brianna Spencer on Friday rang up a steady stream of masked customers buying novels and other reading materials from Leana’s Books & More at the Grove City Premium Outlets shopping center in Mercer County.
No more than 10 customers were allowed in the store at a time, but those who were inside chatted among themselves and with Ms. Spencer, who said Friday morning had been a hectic one — the shop’s first day open in weeks since Gov. Tom Wolf issued stay-at-home orders in March in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19.
“It’s like the Christmas season,” Ms. Spencer, the store manager, said through her mask.
The bookstore was one of a handful of shops doing business at the outlet center, which opened Friday as lockdown orders in northeastern and north-central Pennsylvania counties began to ease. Most stores at the outlet center owned by Simon Property Group remained closed.
The shopping destination off Interstate 79 and near Interstate 80 in Mercer County is a draw for road trippers using those highways through Pennsylvania or coming from Ohio, New York and Canada. Its website boasts about Pennsylvania’s tax-free status on most clothing and shoes.
Tim Klingensmith, browsing for books with his daughter, said he wasn’t nervous about venturing out.
“I’m wearing my mask, of course,” he said, noting that Mercer County is pretty remote and hasn’t seen the impact from the novel coronavirus that other places have.
A cold, rainy day didn’t keep folks from taking the opportunity to change their scenery after weeks of self-isolation. Families, couples and groups of teenagers strolled the open-air shopping outlet.
Simon Property Group, the largest mall owner in the U.S., turned the lights back on at Grove City Premium Outlets after reopening dozens of its properties around the country where stay-at-home orders were relaxed earlier.
Things have changed since the shopping center last welcomed customers.
Signs dotted the landscape, reminding shoppers to wear masks and use sanitizing wipes, maintain social distancing, avoid touching their faces, and asking them to stay home if they have flu-like symptoms.
The Indianapolis-based firm also offered to provide masks for free upon request. In addition to limiting the numbers of customers in stores at one time, shared spaces such as food courts and play areas are limited or closed off. In public bathrooms, Simon Property Group said every other sink and urinal would be taped off.
A line formed outside of the Finish Line store, where Kiasia Waller had just stepped out with three pairs of new shoes: one pair each for herself, her boyfriend and her son. The shoe store had an employee outside taking a head count.
“I wanted to get here early to beat any crowds,” said Ms. Waller, of New Castle. But she said she wasn’t going to stick around. “There’s barely anything open.”
Jamie Bayer and her son Cayden had just arrived at the outlet center to browse for birthday gifts. “We’re really just seeing what’s open,” said Ms. Bayer, of Butler. “We haven’t been in any stores yet.
“It’s so different now,” she said. “Until now, we’ve only been out to get necessities. It’s a little overwhelming, but I figured this is an open-air shopping area, so it’s different than other places.”