Preparing for the new world of retail

From reduced hours to fewer people, indoor malls won’t be the same

Consumers should get ready for a new world of retail as indoor shopping mall operators across the country prepare to reopen their doors with an abundance of COVID-19 precautions in the coming weeks.

From the staff hired to manage the flow of people to new measures that include preordering items, the traditional afternoon at the mall isn’t going to look anything like it did before the pandemic. But at this point, mall owners say their priority is establishing clear guidelines that customers understand.

“The worst thing you can do is confuse people,” said Jonathan Gitlin, president and chief operating officer of RioCan REIT, which owns indoor malls Burlington Centre and Yonge and Eglinton Centre in Toronto.

Shopping centres in Manitoba were allowed to resume operations on May 4 under strict guidelines from local health officials, while other provinces are expected to follow with their own rules for how nonessential businesses should operate when they reopen.

Several mall operators spoke with The Canadian Press about the changes they’re rolling out:

Getting shopping centres back on their feet will take significant time and effort, so expect truncated operating hours at most locations. Sal Iacono, executive vice president of operations at Cadillac Fairview, said the company’s malls will run on shortened days which leave room for employees to review what needs improvement.

Forget wandering aimlessly around the mall under the new safety measures. The goal is to closely monitor the number of shoppers inside the building to prevent overcrowding, and keep everyone moving in a steady flow that avoids unnecessary criss-crossing of people.

Some grocery stores require shoppers to wear masks, but those rules won’t apply at most malls. Instead, expect building management to stock each entrance with an abundance of hand sanitizer dispensers.

While many outdoor malls began offering curbside pickup weeks ago, the more traditional malls are expected to follow closely behind.

RioCan announced it’s rolling out a program it’s dubbing Curbside Collect at its properties which designates sections of the parking lot where shoppers can pull up and collect preordered items.

Other mall operators say they’ll experiment will similar ideas, though ones located in downtown cores may struggle to manage vehicle traffic.