At Homeport, a home goods store on Burlington’s Church Street Marketplace, owner Mark Bouchett and staff are scrambling to get safety precautions in place before reopening Monday, the first day the store is allowed to do so.
“We’re definitely planning on having our doors open on Monday, and we’re busting our humps right now to sort of get the store ready,” Bouchett said.
Bouchett said on Tuesday that he is marking six foot lines on the floor, acquiring masks for staff and drafting a staff safety plan as the store prepares to reopen.
Gov. Phil Scott announced Monday that the state would allow a “gradual reopening” of retail stores starting May 18. While all employees are required to wear masks and maintain a distance of 6 feet, patrons are not required to wear masks.
Under the state’s guidelines, stores will be required to stay under 25% of their maximum capacity and to conduct health and safety training on state guidelines if they have more than 10 employees.
At Homeport, the doors will be open, allowing customers to enter and leave the store without coming into contact with the door. The store is planning on frequently wiping down surfaces in the store, is providing disposable masks to those who enter and has developed a check-out system where about 80% of transactions will be “touchless,” he said.
“We’re really working hard to kind of eliminate contact points and points for potential spread,” Bouchette said.
Bouchett said he had reached out to staff to see who was comfortable coming back, and he said the store was confident it would be able to staff with a group willing to come back.
“I would say the vast majority of our crew is excited to get going again,” he said.
While Homeport is getting ready for in-store customers, other merchants in Burlington have decided not to reopen at this time.
Sara Beal is the co-owner of Common Deer, a store on College Street that sells a variety of items made locally and throughout the United States. She said that the store would not be opening its doors May 18.
Beal said the store had been able to go digital-only during the pandemic, was focused on online sales and had been “limping forward.”
“I think if we are to put the energy towards opening up safely and changing that forward momentum in that direction … I don’t know if we can do both,” she said.
The lack of tourists was another factor in her decision not to reopen in-store business at this point, Beal said.
“Without that economic boost to every small business, I am concerned that it’s just not going to be as viable to keep our businesses going,” she said.
Nicole Carey, the owner of both Birdfolk and Trinket, said her stores would also not be opening May 18. She said she was not sure how the store would be able to both continue to fill its orders for delivery and pickup while offering in-store retail.
“It’s almost kind of like learning how to run a completely different business, and then bringing the other piece back into it while having very minimal staff because you can only have one person in our store at a time,” she said. “It’s very challenging.”
The small size of the three stores — one in Burlington, Winooski and Waterbury — are another obstacle to reopening, Carey said.
“I don’t necessarily think our customers are ready to come back into our stores,” she said. “I could be wrong. Believe me, we need the business, but I don’t want to rush into it.”
Carey said she thought Scott should have mandated that customers wear masks while shopping.
“It’s a bummer to put the onus on the businesses, we’re already trying to save our business, to put that responsibility on us to educate the public,” she said. “I think that if everyone knew they had to wear masks indoors, there would be less confusion, and I would feel more supported in reopening.”
Kelly Devine, the executive director of the Burlington Business Association, said that it was unclear what percentage of the city’s retail stores would be reopening May 18.
“To lose our retail and restaurant industry completely during the summer would be devastating for downtown,” she said. “We have an opportunity to begin to capture some of it back, so I say let’s do it right and in a way that works, to take this next step and see what happens.”
Devine said businesses have to convince staff members that the working conditions are safe to return, ensure they have time to complete training and determine how to ensure the store is limited to 25% capacity.
Businesses will also have to weigh if they believe there will be enough customers to make reopening worth it, Devine said. Part of this calculation will include taking into account weather forecasts, as nicer weather will likely bring more customers, Devine said.
Kara Alnaswari, the executive director of the Church Street Marketplace, said that she believed that many, if not most, retailers would be opening Monday. She said that she had heard from some retailers who were nervous about opening and were going to take some more time to re-open.
“Many business owners are very eager to open up,” she said. “They understand the public health crisis, and they feel that they are in the position to provide enough safety, cleanliness and following of CDC guidelines to keep their employees and customers safe.”
Alnaswari said she was not sure if consumers would feel comfortable shopping next week.
“Perception is really important, which is why I’m urging all merchants to really communicate with their customers the steps they are taking to make that shopping environment really as safe as possible,” she said.
Beal said that the store had had incredible support from the community during the pandemic, which she was concerned would lessen during this initial reopen stage.
“My biggest, overarching concern is that the community is not going to think that the small business community, especially retail, still needs them, because we’re quote ‘open’ when the struggle has just barely begun.”
