Employees are ripping off plastic walls and refilling hand sanitizer stations in anticipation of Saturday's reopenings.
Taped off aisles and plastic covering items such as cards and colouring books will soon be a thing of the past for most of Manitoba. At Midnight on Saturday, new Public Health Orders are taking into effect, effectively eliminating the Essential Items list for most regions.
The City of Winnipeg shared a clean message with CHVN saying "we don’t anticipate any issues" regarding the sudden influx of tape and plastic in the trash from stores.
"I would describe (reopening) as a tempered excitement," says Chris Hall, Co-Owner of McNally Robinson Booksellers. "We are worried about our own safety as well as customer safety but it will be a relief as much as anything."
He says they have cleaned up the shop as they prepare to greet shoppers once again.
While his two stores are now rearranged slightly, he says book lovers will be able to embrace the familiar space. Similar to how they were before the closure, Hall's halls will be at a lower capacity, this time 25 per cent maximum, with hand sanitizer at the ready.
"It is going to be a lot like it always has been," Hall says. "Largely it is business as usual. Our job is to pick great books for people."
The bookstore owner said they ran into interesting shopping habits when they moved online.
"The in-store discovery is a big part of what we do. Somebody exclaimed while we were picking orders that 'everybody is picking the same thirty books' and that is what online shopping is like."
Hall is excited to help connect readers with books in person.
Other shops, as well as hair salons and some other personal services, will be allowed to open Saturday morning with a limited capacity. Restaurants, nail salons, and many others continue to be closed to the public.
Northern Manitoba businesses continue to be limited to the Essential Items list.
Tue, Apr 23, 1:20 PM
Skilled Trades, Full-time
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