Closed for nearly two months this summer due to surging coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, indoor malls up and down the state got the green light to reopen Monday, Aug. 31, under California’s new color-coded reopening plan to prevent further spread of the disease.
Eager to welcome shoppers back inside for the first time since May, Inland malls such as Inland Center in San Bernardino, the Galleria at Tyler in Riverside and Ontario Mills reopened this week at 25% capacity and with myriad safety precautions in place.
“More than ever, people are ready to safely get back to the places and activities they’ve been missing and we are excited to be a big part of this,” Terri Relf, senior marketing manager for Inland Center Mall owner Macerich, said Monday in a news release. “All of us are committed to ensuring our property can get back to making major contributions to our local economy through jobs, sales taxes and more.”
While the temporary shuttering of indoor malls and other nonessential businesses in March helped stem the virus’ spread at the outset of the pandemic, the move also cost Inland cities millions of dollars in sales tax revenue toward the tail end of the previous fiscal year.
As a result, most cities in the region had to cut costs and use reserves this summer to balance their books.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home orders lasted through early June, at which time the state, under its original four-stage reopening plan, began allowing a broad range of businesses in certain counties to reopen with guidelines for safe operation.
Indoor malls welcomed shoppers back shortly thereafter, signaling as much a return to normalcy as possible during unprecedented times.
Yet, as malls, gyms, casinos, bars, restaurants and other nonessential businesses unlocked their doors, coronavirus cases and hospitalizations spiked, even with safety precautions in place, prompting Newsom to shut down most indoor operations in July.
The past two months, certain stores at indoor malls have offered curbside pick-up, while restaurants with outdoor seating served guests there.
Announced Friday, the state’s new four-tier reopening system allowed such shopping centers, hair salons and barbershops to reopen safely.
MALLS REOPENING
Galleria at Tyler: Open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Sunday
Inland Center: Open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Sunday
Montclair Place: Opens Friday, Sept. 4. Hours are 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday
Ontario Mills: Open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Sunday
Temecula Promenade: Open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Sunday
Victoria Gardens: Open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Sunday
As they did earlier this summer, mall managers put in place numerous safeguards this past weekend for returning shoppers.
Inland Center ownership, for example, has enhanced cleaning and sanitation protocols, Relf said, with a focus on main touchpoints. An advanced filter in the air conditioning system will further protect guests, Relf added. Montclair Place, which plans to reopen Friday, Sept. 4, also has installed new air filters.
Floor markings encourage shoppers in malls from San Bernardino to Temecula to maintain safe distances, and automatic hand sanitizer stations have become omnipresent.
Montclair Place will require face coverings when indoors, and all drinking fountains have been disabled.
Not every business at the Galleria at Tyler was shut down two months ago, general manager Jim Fuson said Tuesday, and about half of the Riverside mall’s tenants already are open, even with the relatively short notice.
“We were extremely excited on Friday with the governor’s announcement,” Fuson added, “but I think a few of our retailers need a few days to get things reopened safely.”
Foot traffic still is slow at Glow Up, a blow out bar in Promenade Temecula that reopened Monday with heightened sanitation procedures, according to general manager Becky Herrera.
The same is true for 2% Chop at Victoria Gardens, which relied heavily on walk-in traffic, but for the time being, only is taking appointments.
Subhi Koudsi’s barbershop at Rancho Cucamonga’s popular outdoor mall reopened Monday after enduring the spring and summer closures. Increased cleaning and sanitation protocols mean the shop is seeing fewer customers per day, Koudsi said, putting the salon on less-secure financial footing than it was before the pandemic.
Still, despite seeing fewer clients amid the pandemic, Koudsi remains optimistic about the future, based on how things went when the shop reopened earlier this summer.
“No one got sick at our shop that we know of,” he said, “so we just feel like the way we’ve been doing with our masks, our social distancing and cleaning, we’ve been stopping (the spread of) the virus.”
Added Herrera: “We’re excited to have everybody back. It was a little scary for a while.”
Staff writers Beau Yarbrough and Steve Scauzillo contributed to this report.
