OTTAWA -- Ottawa's major shopping malls say they are working towards reopening their doors to shoppers this Friday, when Ottawa enters stage two of Ontario's multi-stage reopening process, but they say not every single shop will be ready to go.
Shopping malls are included in the province's stage two framework and will be able to allow customers back in to shop, though the food courts will be take-out only.
Some stores in shopping malls with street-level entrances were allowed to reopen in stage one, but the malls themselves remained closed.
Place d'Orléans said in a statement to CTV News it would be ready to go on Friday.
"We will be opening our doors on Friday, June 12, however it will take some time for individual retailers to recall staff and prepare their stores for opening safely under guidelines from government and health officials," the statement said.
St. Laurent Shopping Centre was quick to announce its reopening, posting on Instagram within moments of Premier Doug Ford's announcement that malls could reopen.
"We plan to re-open all our doors on Friday, June 12 with modified operating hours of Monday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.," the post said. "Limited stores will initially be open and the Food Court will offer take-out service only."
In a statement to CTV News, the Rideau Centre said it was reviewing its plans, with the goal of reopening on Friday.
"We are aware of the provincial guidelines recently issued for reopening and are in the midst of preparing our return to workplace plans," The statement from the Rideau Centre's parent company Cadillac Fairview said. "We will review our plans against any guidance from the province/public health in the coming days and work towards reopening on June 12, subject to any changes from the province."
Later Tuesday, the Rideau Centre posted to its Instagram page to confirm it would be opening on Friday.
"On Friday, June 12 at 11am, CF Rideau Centre will reopen its doors to our community of clients and guests. Please check back here for more details in the coming days. We’re working hard to get ready and we can’t wait to welcome you back," the post said.
General manager of the Bayshore Shopping Centre, Denis Pelletier told Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron the mall was aiming to open Friday with about one third of stores ready to go.
"The target is Friday. The challenge here is less the mall and more the various retailers," he said. "For merchants, many of them have to mobilize staff and have them come in and prepare the space in the store and clean it and go through a new procedure on how to operate the store, so we're looking at just how many stores might be open for Friday, but we're pretty confident we'll be able to achieve a Friday opening."
Pelletier says he expects to have all of the mall's stores open again in three to four weeks.
Stage two of Ontario's regional reopening plan comes into effect in Ottawa at 12:01 a.m. Friday, June 12.
