OTTAWA -- Ottawa's big shopping malls say they're getting ready to reopen Friday, when the Ontario government officially gives the green light for Ottawa to proceed to the next stage of economic reopening amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mall managers say not every store will be ready on day one, but what other changes can an eager shopper expect? The general manager of Bayshore Shopping Centre, Denis Pelletier, offers some hints.
Pelletier told Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron, one of the first things customers will notice is all the signs.
"There's signage throughout the mall just to remind everybody how and what to do in accessing various spaces," he said.
He also expects lineups, as each store will have its own capacity limits.
"We'll likely have lineups inside the mall ... if need be. So, if, for example, one of our stores has a capacity of 15 people and there are 20 customers, you may have some people waiting in line, physically distancing."
Pelletier says, depending on the customer volumes, there may be a common line-up for several stores, with mall staff at the front of the line directing customers on when they can enter a particular store, but only if the customer demand is "overwhelming."
Washroom capacity has also been cut in half, Pelletier said.
All of the seating in the mall has been removed or otherwise made off-limits and hand sanitizer and hand soap will be readily available.
"A lot of those things are in place to try to make sure we don't have a new spike and we continue on the right road to recovery, here," Pelletier said.
Will I need a mask?
Bayshore Shopping Centre will not be mandating customers wear masks, but Pelletier says individual stores may request customers wear them.
"We obviously encourage the use of masks, and we're supplying all the PPE for our own staff, but distancing and hand-washing appears to be the best defense and the things we're focused on right now," he said.
