Biggest mall operator in US plans to reopen 49 of them from Friday

New York

SIMON Property Group, the biggest operator of malls in the United States, has come up with a game plan for reopening 49 shopping centres across 10 states starting on Friday.

Security officers and employees will "actively remind and encourage shoppers" to maintain a proper distance from others and to refrain from shopping in groups.

Food-court seating will be spaced to encourage social distancing, and reusable trays will be banished. Play areas and drinking fountains will be temporarily closed, mall-provided strollers will not be available and, in restrooms, every other sink and urinal will be taped off.

Regular audio announcements will be made "to remind shoppers of their part in maintaining a safe environment for everyone".

The company shared its ideas for what its pandemic-era malls will look like in documents attached to an April 27 memo given to retailers.

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It provides a glimpse of how the broader American shopping experience is likely to look as the country begins to slowly reopen.

But the success of such an approach depends largely on whether retailers will also decide to quickly reopen stores and whether the public will feel comfortable going to malls when tests for the virus remain difficult to get.

The memo was accompanied by a 47-slide presentation of "illustrative examples" of messaging that shoppers will see. They include signs welcoming them back to the malls and detailing safety precautions that have been taken, and directional decals for floors.

Also part of the presentation was a depiction of a taped-off urinal, and maps for common areas that showed where hand sanitiser and seating might be placed and where "Temporarily Closed" signs could appear.

Simon Property, which has seen the future of brick-and-mortar retail seriously threatened by the pandemic, plans to open the shopping centres between Friday and Monday.

The majority are in Texas, Indiana, Georgia and Missouri. Properties in Tennessee, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alaska and Mississippi will also be reopened.

Simon Property is based in Indianapolis and at the end of last year owned more than 200 properties in 37 states and Puerto Rico.

It is not clear how many retailers with stores in those malls will open their doors.

Gap, which owns its namesake brand as well as Athleta, Banana Republic and Old Navy and is a tenant in some of the properties being reopened, said on Tuesday that it was not opening any stores this weekend.

Macy's, also a Simon Property tenant, currently has all of its stores closed. On Tuesday, it said it had no update on when they would reopen.

Simon Property's memo emphasised the safety protocols it was enacting as it started to invite customers to malls.

Simon Property's employees, contractors and vendors will be required to take their temperature before work, and stay home if they have a fever of 38 degrees Celsius or higher or exhibit flu-like symptoms, the documents said.

They will also wear face masks and aim to stay 1.8 metres away from others. The mall operator said it would provide free temperature testing, masks and sanitising wipe packets to shoppers upon request, and that they would be "encouraged" to wear face masks and wash their hands frequently.

"I think of this as a tight-rope act," said William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University's medical school. "On the one side are all the medical issues and on the other are all the financial, economic and social issues. If one gets out of balance we fall."

Dr Schaffner said that he thought shopping malls should require temperature checks for customers, as has been mandated in parts of Asia.

He also thinks masks should be required of customers, not simply provided to them on request. And that hand sanitiser dispensers should be accessible for both the public and employees in every store.

Some social distancing measures, he said, like blocking off some bathroom faucets, seem to run counter to the need for aggressive hand-washing.

The company did say in the memo that hours will be shortened to allow for increased cleaning. The malls will be open from 11am to 7pm every day except Sunday, when the hours will be noon to 6pm.

The mall operator also sent out a 10-page document of safety protocols, which forecast other changes in the typical American shopping experience. NYTIMES