SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced on Wednesday, May 13 that all retails stores in downtown San Francisco may re-open on May 18 for pick-up and deliveries.
Initially, the city was prepared to allow only florists, bookstores, cosmetics stores, and others to reopen. The new order was passed after the city saw a decrease in hospitalizations, and no major spikes in cases, but there are restrictions in place. It will only allow small retail businesses, manufacturers, and warehouses to continue operations, and it does not include shopping malls.
“It does include all retail in San Francisco,” Breed stated during a daily coronavirus briefing. “We are talking close to 95 percent of businesses that unfortunately been closed. To provide this opportunity to our small business community is going to be incredible, but I want to be clear that there will of course be limitations.”
Such limitations include following guidelines around wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.
Retail businesses will only be available to customers through curbside pick-up, or private delivery to customers. Manufacturers and warehouses will also have a limitation on the total amount of workers allowed inside.
For some retailers the move to curbside service might not be possible. Businesses such as jewelers and tailors may might not be able to serve customers as their vendors and suppliers have yet to reopen. Curbside service would limit the kinds of repairs and alterations that these businesses would be able to perform for customers.
San Francisco will release further instructions for retail businesses by the end of the week.
