Shoppers packed the parking lot at Barrie's Georgian Mall early Wednesday morning to be first in line as their favourite stores prepared to open for the first time in months since being shut down back in April.
All non-essential retail stores were forced to close April 8 when the province initially implemented a stay-at-home order.
However, stores with a street entrance were allowed to reopen when Ontario entered Phase 1 of its official reopening plan on June 11. Malls were not included in that step.
Elisabeth Goodrham, who is the assistant manager at Yankee Candle, told BarrieToday she was surprised to see how many and how early shoppers lined up to get inside.
“My manager came in at 9:30 a.m. and there were already lineups outside of stores," she said. "I came in at 10:50 a.m., and the back parking lot was pretty much full.”
While the staff there have continued to offer curbside pick-up services throughout the lockdown, Goodrham said it's great to be able to get back to serving customers face-to-face.
“It’s nice being open, because we can actually start selling through stock that’s backlogged and make space for the new stuff coming in,” she said. “Everyone that’s been coming in today has been really excited about stocking up.”
Yankee Candle is one of the many retailers that has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Goodrham said the Barrie store will be closing its doors for good at the end of July.
As of just prior to 4:30 p.m., she estimated the store had completed upwards of 40 transactions, adding they likely saw more than double that in the number of visitors to the store.
Compared to pre-shutdown, Goodrham said it would definitely be considered a “busier-than-normal kind of day”.
Each store has its own capacity limits, she noted, and some are conducting COVID screening before allowing shoppers to enter.
Goodrham said mall staff were also at the entrances conducting at the front doors.
While most customers are commenting on the long lines, she said they appeared to simply be happy to finally be out shopping.
