SUDBURY -- Although several stores across the province have reopened to the public, for customers, shopping will look a bit different moving forward.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford ordered stores to close in mid March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing businesses to adjust to online shopping, curbside pickup or close entirely.
But on Tuesday, customers were welcomed back in person.
"I think it's very positive -- I think people will come out and look," said Mike Rowlandson, from Bianco's Supercenter. "It will just be refreshing for people to get out and be out of their homes for a bit."
Although restrictions are starting to ease, guidelines and safety protocols have been implemented to keep customers and staff safe. Hand sanitizing stations, Plexiglas barriers and written reminders are spread across multiple stores in Sudbury that have reopened.
"We're following Public Health Canada with all the regulations they've put out," Rowlandson said. "Such as distancing, such as we have a touchless store here - we ask people not to touch."
Retail stores that have a street entrance for customers and physical distancing and safety measures in place were on the list of businesses that could reopen during Phase 1.
"We have to make sure that when people come in, they sanitize their hands," said Jose Belanger-Leroux from Belanger Ford Lincoln Centre. "We have Plexiglas in all the offices so people don't have contact with their sales person. We disinfect all the cars when they come in for service and make sure that everything is sanitized before they leave."
In the pandemic world, even taking a car for a test drive is not what it once was.
"We make sure we leave the keys in a zip lock so we don't have any access with touching the keys," Belanger-Leroux said. "And the sales person is not allowed to go out with the customer.
"We make sure that we tell them which route to use. We also have a NVO, which is a new vehicle orientation, so we email the customer exactly all the options of the vehicle they've been test driving."
Several stores in the city say customers have already been in to shop in person, giving them a small taste of normalcy.
"We hope that people feel safe to come and shop," said Madison Zeglen, store manager for What to Wear Inc. "We're doing our absolute best to try and make it a safe shopping experience for everyone. So we're hoping to see some familiar faces and we've seen a few already."
Although retail stores are happy to be open, most have reduced store hours due to the COVID-19 pandemic and reduced traffic.
What To Wear has started offering private appointments for clients who just aren't comfortable going back to normal.
"There's been a lot of interest for (private appointments) and we did do that a little bit before," Zeglen said. "But I think now it's going to be the new normal, to have one person at a time and more one-on-one shopping."
Although the province has given the green light for many stores to reopen, it is still up to individual businesses on whether or not they are ready to let the public back in.
