No massive weekend crowds at mall as retail lockdown loomed for shoppers
Perhaps due to health safety concerns, there was no major onslaught of shoppers at Devonshire Mall on Sunday — the final day before a government-mandated lockdown goes into effect across Windsor and Essex County.
The mall extended its hours until 8 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday over the weekend to handle any potential increase in customers looking to get holiday shopping completed before much of the shopping centre will be forced to close down under Ontario's most restrictive stage of “grey” under its COVID-19 alert protocol.
Windsor Regional Hospital CEO David Musyj wanted the lockdown to take effect immediately following Friday's government announcement to prevent a large number of people rushing to the
mall to complete holiday shopping and create a virus superspreader situation.
Perhaps people took the warning to heart since shoppers were at a minimum throughout the weekend at the mall.
Under the government grey alert regulations, retail stores will not be allowed to have in-person shopping unless they are deemed an essential service and provide goods such as groceries, medical prescriptions or hardware items.
Retail businesses can choose to stay open for curbside pickup or delivery only.
At Windsor Crossing Premium Outlets there were a handful of lineups on Saturday at a few stores due to capacity limits associated with the virus protocols.
“Some of the stores, not all, will remain open,” in the coming days leading up to Christmas with curbside pickup only, said a spokesman on Sunday with Royal Courtyards which operates the outlet mall.
He said more information on which stores will remain open despite the lockdown and available hours will be posted on the outlet mall's website on Monday at windsorcrossing.ca and also will be available on the outlet mall's Instagram account.