Retail therapy still an option
Guidelines about what constitutes an ‘essential business’ varies in US
At some Guitar Center stores, employees are still allowing customers to try out models of guitars. Dillard’s, a department store chain popular in the South, is still welcoming shoppers looking for clothing and makeup.
And Michaels, the arts and crafts chain, says it is keeping many of its stores open to provide supplies to parents teaching their homebound children. “We are here for the makers,” the retailer said in an email to one concerned customer.
In states hit hard by the coronavirus, like New York and California, governors and mayors have mandated the closure of all but the obviously essential stores, like supermarkets and pharmacies.
And the Department of Homeland Security has laid out guidelines for businesses across the country to follow when deciding whether to stay open, even in regions not known to be hot spots for the virus. The agency is careful to note that its definition of a “critical” work force is not an official standard, leaving it up to corporations to decide for themselves.
Given this latitude, retailers have kept thousands of stores open, even as health experts warn that the virus is likely to spread more widely across the country in the coming weeks.
Several retailers — like Sears, Kmart, and Joann — have provided employees with letters they can share, arguing that their businesses are essential.
That some retail stores are staying open while other businesses have closed reflects the piecemeal approach to combating the pandemic in the United States. There are emergency orders limiting business to essential retailers in about half the country, but much of the South and West has no such government restrictions.
The Retail Industry Leaders Association has asked the federal government for clearer guidelines.
The decisions have left many retail employees with reservations about showing up for work, where they often don’t have masks, gloves or hand sanitizer, and with questions about their stores’ cleaning procedures.
Some corporate leaders may see little choice but to keep operating. Guitar Center and Joann, for example, had relatively high levels of debt heading into the health crisis, credit analysts say. Closing for the next few months, while burning through cash to make debt payments, could be especially painful. But each company is taking a different approach. Guitar Center has closed 75% of its stores, while Joann has closed fewer than 10%.
Sears, which emerged from bankruptcy protection last year and had been closing dozens of stores heading into this winter, has decided to stay open to provide “essential products and services during this crisis.”
Some retailers say preserving jobs and sales is also a worthwhile goal.
Wade Miquelon, the chief executive of Joann, said, “When we’re talking about unemployment rates that could be at epic proportions, I hope we can look back and say, ‘We’re not perfect, but we did the best we could and maybe did the right thing.’ ”
At Guitar Center in recent days, customers have been trying out guitars, then putting them back on the shelves after touching them, said two employees at two stores in different states, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
A spokeswoman for Guitar Center said the company had “increased the frequency of store cleanings, with particular focus on instruments and in interactive areas.”