As grateful as Dan Marshall is to have the option to reopen his business next week, he was left with more questions than answers after learning that Gov. Tim Walz will let his stay-at-home order expire over the weekend.
Thus, even though retailers across the state will be able to open back up starting on Monday under the “Stay Safe Minnesota” order, Mischief Toy Store in St. Paul will not be part of that initial wave.
As far as Marshall is concerned, there hasn’t been nearly enough guidance given on how retailers should safely reopen, and he doesn’t feel comfortable allowing customers in quite yet.
“We aren’t ready for it, and we won’t reopen until we are ready for it,” said Marshall, a co-owner of the shop on Grand Avenue. “We have staked our claim on being a brick-and-mortar destination that allows people to come in and discover things. We have customers picking things up and putting them back down pretty much constantly. It doesn’t feel like that can be done safely at this point, so our only choice is to be as cautious as we can.”
Meanwhile, thousands of other retailers will reopen next week, as long as they have social distancing plans in place and operate at 50 percent capacity for the foreseeable future.
Meg Brownson, owner of Alfresco Casual Living in downtown Stillwater, is thrilled to reopen and has done everything she can think of to create a safe shopping space.
She had plexiglass shields installed by her store’s cash registers; purchased disposable masks for customers who have forgotten theirs ($1, refunded with $25 purchase); purchased hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes; provided disposable gloves to employees; and cleaned the store from top to bottom.
She also plans to limit the number of customers allowed in the store at a single time and will allow shoppers in the store’s employee kitchen area to wash their hands before or after shopping.
“We are ready,” said Brownson, who has owned the store for 17½ years. “I’ve got signage coming this afternoon that will go all over about social distancing and other things.”
She said abiding by the stay-at-home order for the past couple of months has been frustrating, and while she called the measures “unfair and arbitrary” to small businesses across the state, she’s excited for next week nonetheless.
“I’m not expecting a flood of people,” Brownson said. “I think there will be certain people who are starved for shopping, or they just need something. I’m not expecting to be anywhere near normal for probably the whole summer. I don’t really expect anything will be back to ‘normal’ if we’re lucky until next summer maybe.”
It could be a new normal no matter what, at least when it comes to how retailers operate moving forward.
The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce relied on federal guidelines to issue best practices for members on reopening. Some suggestions include staggering employee shifts to maximize social distancing, putting markers on floors to maintain social distancing, encouraging employees to take lunch breaks in vehicles instead of cafeterias and building temporary walls between work stations.
Susie Fruncillo, co-owner of Lake County Booksellers in White Bear Lake, plans to follow those suggestions as best she can. She will ask customers to wear masks when she opens her doors next week and has also installed a plastic sneeze-guard at the front counter.
Despite the preparations, Fruncillo says she is still a little nervous to return to work.
“I must say I felt safer to have it all locked up,” Fruncillo said. “I am in my mid-70s and in that vulnerable category.”
That feeling of apprehension that some retailers have is the biggest reason Marshall decided not to reopen Mischief Toy Store next week. He will continue with curbside pickup and delivery services and is trying to figure out a way to have people be able to window shop.
“We are going to have to get creative,” Marshall said. “As far as opening up the entire store, that seems a ways off for us.”
He’s lost over 50 percent in sales over the past couple months and is hopeful things don’t carry over into the holiday season.
“That’s obviously an important time for us,” Marshall said. “I’m hoping that the state is looking down the road and making sure that whatever we are doing we won’t be hit in October and November harder than we were hit in March and April.”
Most frustrating for Marshall is that there haven’t been any mandates from the government. He feels like different retailers are making things up as they go and fears that could have adverse effects down the road.
“I feel like if there was a lot more guidance and it was understood by everyone across the board I would feel a lot better about this,” Marshall said. “As it is now everybody has to make this up as if we are all epidemiologists, and I don’t know how to do that.”
That said, Marshall has been selling toys in St. Paul for the past couple of decades and is confident his business will survive.
“We have been through the Great Recession and we got through that,” Marshall said. “We know we will get through this, too.”
Mary Divine and Bob Shaw contributed to this report.
