No such thing as business as usual as retailers reopen

Ottawa retailers are finding their own definition of business as usual as their stores reopened to customers Tuesday for thefirst time since the COVID-19 lockdown began in mid-March.

Shops with street entrances were allowed to reopen Tuesday, providedthey followcertain rules.

At Allegro women's boutique on Wellington Street W., owner Anne-Marie Bergeron has reduced her storehours andlimited customers entering the shop to two at a time. She also offersthem hand sanitizer on their way in.

Despite the restrictions, Bergeron said she was thrilled to reopen.

"I get to see a lot of my customersI haven't seen in a few months," she said. "It means I get to sell my spring inventory and get back to business."

Bergeron said she plans to use this week to gauge how customers are feeling about the new reality, and is evenallowing some to shop by appointment after hours so they'll feel more comfortable.

At Vanilla Boutique, another women's clothing store on Richmond Road, there was red tape blocking the doorway on Tuesday, and not the kind of red tape business owners have been dealing with lately.

"We're open for business, but it's to stop people at the door," said Kathleen Driscoll, who was also offering hand sanitizer and explaining the rules to customers before allowing themto enter.

Driscoll said there's no real replacement for the in-personshopping experience.

"We were open last week for curbside pickup, but people need to touch the clothes, feel them, try them on."

Some reluctant to return

Not everyone is eager to return to stores.June Winger said she's still leery about shopping in person for anything but essentials.

"I do miss browsing and seeing what items are available. Now, when I go somewhere I have my list, I figure out my strategy on how I'm going to get there.I stick to that," she said.

"I'd like to see practical measures for my safety and I'd like to see it get enforced. You see all sorts of stores where they have the arrows, but nobody's following them.... In those situations I just leave."

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Several Ottawa shoppers say theyre happy to see stores reopen, though they want clear direction from public health officials and adequate safety measures in place.

Josh Greenberg, a professor at Carleton University's School of Journalism and Communication who's been analyzing the retail environment during the lockdown, said that's an increasingly common sentiment among consumers.

"When they are expressing high levels of worry and concern that we may be reopening too soon, that tends to be driven by a fear that we are going to simply reintroduce new lines of transmission, and that we're going to be going through this whole exercise of lockdown again in a few months," Greenberg said.

Some stores, includingWallack'sArt Supplies on Bank Street, are sticking with curbside pickup for a bit longer because it's been working well.

"We've decided we're going to continue with that until we can get the store fully ready to accept customers in-store," said owner Michael Wallack. "The combination of safety and getting the store ready is our priority."