Come Monday morning untold numbers of small shop owners across Minnesota will unlock their doors, walk inside, and promptly lock the doors behind them.
But they’ll flip that “closed” sign to “open” — for the first time in more than a month.
Last Thursday, when Gov. Tim Walz extended the state’s stay-at-home order for the second time — now until May 18 — he carved out an exception for retailers previously shuttered in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
They can open, but only for curbside service.
Here’s the exact wording of Walz’s order: “Businesses in this category include retail stores and other businesses that sell, rent, maintain and repair goods that can be picked up outside, without entering the place of business, with limited interaction between employees and customers.”
The move amounts to the first baby step back from the darkness for any establishment that didn’t sell items in “critical sectors,” which covered a range of offerings, including groceries, liquor, hardware, medical supplies, fishing bait, and bicycles. The previous orders meant that Target could sell video games, but a video game store couldn’t open; that Menard’s could sell pots and pans, but the kitchen store couldn’t; that Walmart could sell coin collecting supplies but not the hobby shop.
In other words, specialty shops were not only forced to close, their owners and employees watched as their goods were sold by department stores, often big box chains. Many leaned heavily on online sales and even resorted to delivery.
But now they’re back. Sort of.
In order to open, the stores must have a plan to sanitize surfaces, keep distances between all involved and follow similar “safely returning to work” guidelines put out by the state’s Department of Employment and Economic Development.
Store owners say it’s not been as simple as flipping over that “open” sign. Here’s one example.
QUARANTINED JEWELRY?
For over three family generations of jewelers spanning 70 years in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood, no Moeller has ever had to quarantine a watch.
But Bob Moeller, co-owner and president of R.F. Moeller Jeweler, which has stores in St. Paul and Edina, is prepared to do exactly that Monday when he reopens.
Moeller said that preparing to get back to work — and bringing back the 34 employees who range from sales to jewelry-makers — has been eye-opening.
For his staff, he decided to split them up like lines of players on a hockey team: first line does some days, second line does others. That way, if any employee gets ill, the internal contact tracing — figuring out which co-workers have been exposed, is easier — and the number who could have been exposed is smaller.
“I had to get all those cleaners and gloves and masks,” Moeller said of needed supplies, which can still be tricky to obtain. “It’s one thing to make a list and say ‘I’ll get them.’ It’s another to actually get them.”
And who orders carry-out fine jewelry?
“Our store is low traffic — but it’s high impact,” he said. “And people want to come in and touch the stuff.”
But they can’t come in. And Moeller said he’s not about to bring his glass cases full of merchandise out to the sidewalk for patron perusal. Instead, he’s worked up a plan for virtual sales consultations, using video-calling programs FaceTime and Zoom to talk to customers, talk about what they’re looking for and lay items on the felt — everything you’d have inside a jewelry store.
Well, except that cool weight of gold in the palm and, of course, the part where you try the thing on.
The trying on can happen curbside, and Moeller said he and his staff will find out soon how well it’s going to work. “That’s sort of as much as we can do at this point.”
When it comes to even soliciting business, Moeller said he’s treading lightly.
“We’re trying to be sensitive, to think about our customers and our staff,” he said. “We don’t want to seem like it’s not important, what’s going on out there, and we just want to make money. That’s not true at all. We’ve just started gently telling people, ‘Hey, we’re here.’”
If that customer tries on the gold necklace and it’s a bust, Moeller employees have a tray — the same tray the item was handed to the customer in — that the customer can then lay the necklace back into. And that necklace will have to be sterilized.
Which brings up another point: How do you sterilize jewelry? Bleach will tarnish silver, and vinegar will melt pearls.
Many of Moeller’s longtime customers bring their long-worn items to him for cleaning or repair. Could they be contaminated?
“I don’t know how much is too much,” he said, noting that jewelers across America have discussed these issues and generally agreed that sterilization is the best move. But it’s involved. “You pull the string and the more you think about it, the more there is to unravel. It’s been kind of daunting.”
Moeller and many other jewelers have agreed that a hot water bath for five minutes should suffice. Piping hot water kills viruses.
But, what about that wristwatch that can’t be submerged?
“We’ll have them place it in an envelope, and put the envelope on that tray,” he explained. “We’ll quarantine the envelope for 48 hours.”
The potential absurdity of the exercise isn’t lost on Moeller.
“Normally, we do a watch battery in 5 or 10 minutes,” he said Saturday. “Now it could take days.”
LIMITED HOURS FOR SOME
Not all will be opening Monday, and many are treading lightly with the first steps, acknowledging apprehensions related to both the business and the virus.
Mike Fischer, co-owner of Mend Provisions fly fishing shop in Minneapolis, said he’ll hold curbside pickup hours only on Friday afternoons. (Technically, he’s already been doing this, under a bait shop exception of the previous order.)
“Because people can’t walk in the store and actually shop, our business isn’t going to be strong enough to open every day,” said Fischer. “What’s my time worth?”
He said part of him was hoping Walz would allow businesses to allow customers inside, at least by appointment, but part of him thinks it’s too soon, with the virus still spreading. “I wouldn’t even feel comfortable doing one-on-one yet,” he said. I just don’t feel like that much interaction is smart, if it’s not really necessary. I’d rather protect my customers and myself.”