BURLINGTON — Residents and visitors have largely been following the city’s mask requirement inside of businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.
The city passed its masking ordinance in mid-May, days after Gov. Phil Scott said that retail stores could reopen at limited capacity. Scott required employees, but not customers, to wear masks.
Montpelier joined Burlington last week in requiring all individuals inside of stores to wear masks, and the South Burlington City Council also passed a resolution requiring masks inside of businesses Monday, with some exceptions.
City business owners and business leaders say that residents have done a good job wearing masks to limit the spread of the coronavirus as the community has started to reopen.
Kara Alnasrawi, the director of the Church Street Marketplace department, said that there has been widespread compliance with the masking ordinance.
“By and large, the vast majority of people have not had any problems whatsoever with it,” she said. “If a customer was somehow unaware, they would pretty quickly say, ‘Oh, of course, I’m sorry’ and don a mask.”
Mark Bouchett, the owner of Homeport on the Church Street Marketplace, said that customers have been respectful and wearing masks, and he was cautiously optimistic about reopening.
“I’ve been really pleased and gratified that Vermonters — and I expected this of them to begin with — that they’re wearing their masks and keeping their distance, and doing what they need to do to keep this thing under control,” he said.
Bouchett said the average transaction and closure rate have both gone up, a sign that people are coming to the store with specific items in mind. He said overall the store was doing about 75% to 80% of its usual business.
Alnasrawi said businesses had told her that customer numbers had been slightly better than expected.
The city is moving forward with a handful of programs encouraging socially distant business activity, featuring temporary parking spaces for pickup, expanding outdoor space available to retail stores and restaurants, and planned temporary road closures to free up more space.
Marc Sherman, the founder and co-owner of Outdoor Gear Exchange on Church Street, said that customers have been following the store’s safety guidelines, including wearing masks, following capacity guidelines in each section of the store and taking advantage of sanitation stations.
“We found the public has been really responsive to the safety measures we’ve taken,” he said.
Sherman said that customers have returned to the store, though they are not as busy as usual, yet. He said that while biking, paddling and camping sections of the store have seen an increase in sales, browsing categories like clothing and accessories have seen a decrease.
The store is offering disposable masks to customers, with a request for a small donation that will be used to encourage diversity in outdoor sports.
“We realize retail sales and the economy are miniscule issues compared to the global pandemic and the racial inequity that’s happening in this country,” he said.
Kelly Devine, the executive director of the Burlington Business Association, said that she had heard of very few conflicts about the masking ordinance, which has overall gotten a very positive community reaction, she said.
“I would say Burlington and the retailers and restaurants are taking every precaution to provide a safe environment, and I do think Burlington’s downtown is very safe so I would encourage people to get out and come downtown or come to the waterfront,” she said.
But she said that Covid-related restrictions were making it hard for some businesses to reopen, especially restaurants.
“It’s going to be a slow return,” she said. “This is not a sprint, it’s a marathon, and we’re all going to need to work together to bring our community back in some shape.”
Stores that are associated with socially distant activities are doing well, Devine said, including outdoor gear, home repair, camping and biking stores. But she said restaurants are having a hard time with the 25% capacity indoor dining business model.
“It just doesn’t fill enough seats and turn enough tickets to make the model work,” she said.
National protests against racial injustice and police brutality following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis Police Officer also could be having an effect on consumers, and rightfully so, Devine said.
“I have heard some folks say they’ve heard from customers that it’s hard to think about revelry or indulgence when we as a country are really hurting right now,” she said.
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