UPDATE: South Hill Mall announces its reopening plans for Saturday with slow roll-out of stores
Story has been updated with new opening date.
Phase 2 in the state’s Safe Start Washington program has arrived for Pierce County, and already one area mall has announced details of its reopening after months of closure amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
But don’t expect an immediate return to normal.
On Friday, South Hill Mall in Puyallup announced it would reopen Saturday (June 6), though shops, restaurants and other businesses on site “may be opening at a later date or with alterations to their normal routine.”
Earlier Friday, the mall announced it would be open by Monday.
According to the announcement, while the mall will be open during its regular hours of 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, customers need to check the mall’s website to see individual store hours and whether they offer in-store or curbside service.
Pierce County on Friday was approved to move on to Phase 2.
Under the guidance, among a list of retail measures, malls must “apply in-store customer traffic management and sanitation guidance as it relates to additional customer common areas in all facilities” and “ensure all tenants adhere to curbside and/or in-store retail guidance.”
South Hill Mall is owned and managed in association with the Cafaro family of companies, based in Niles, Ohio.
Joe Bell, director of corporate communications for the Cafaro Co., told The News Tribune on Friday that though the doors will open, a complete return to normal will be a gradual process, dependent on respecting the current phase the county is under and retailers getting back up and running.
“Not every business will open at once,” he said. “They may need to staff up or maybe need new merchandise, sometimes installing protective equipment and getting facial shields for cashiers. Those issues tend to delay some of the stores.”
All staff in the mall will be wearing face coverings in accordance to the state and CDC guidelines, and cleaning-sanitation will be “intensified, especially in high-touch areas,” according to the mall’s announcement on Friday.
Signage and physical barriers also will be in place as reminders for social distancing.
Many of the mall’s retailers already offer “Mall To Go” curbside pickup at designated mall entrances for orders placed ahead of time. A list of those stores is at https://www.southhillmall.com/directory/#pickupordelivery.
Bell told The News Tribune there are about 40 designated parking spaces with signage for customers to come and pick up ordered items.
As part of the reopening, the announcement noted the mall “is developing an easy way for locally-based PPE manufacturers and retailers of such gear to get their products to the people who need them. Local manufacturers and retailers of PPE may qualify for FREE rent at the PPE Marketplace.”
Interested businesses can contact David Montevideo of the mall leasing office at 253-840-4349 or via email at dmontevideo@cafarocompany.com.
As for the reopening, Bell says there’s definitely a segment of shoppers with pent-up demand.
“We’re looking forward to it while also doing this cautiously. We know we have to be responsible so do it so everyone feels safe.”
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 12:12 PM.
