(The Center Square) – Starting Friday, Pritzker administration COVID-19 mitigation has retail stores in Illinois operating at limited capacity, but still open. A retailers association representative said it’s a good balance.
After weeks of the entire state’s restaurant and bar industry being ordered to shutdown indoor service, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday issued new orders on other sectors.
“You’ll notice that retail stores, as well as personal services where you can keep your mask on, will remain open at limited capacities,” Pritzker said.
Illinois Retail Merchants’ Association Executive Director Rob Karr said the orders recognize all retail is essential.
“It has justified what we have contended even back in March,” Karr told WMAY, “that you don’t need to drive distinctions between essential and nonessential retail, there’s no reason that a bookstore, or an apparel store or a craft store can’t be open under the same operating conditions as a grocery store.”
General retail will be limited to 25 percent capacity under the governor’s edict. Grocery stores and pharmacies can have 50 percent capacity. Masks are required across the board.
Illinois public health officials are asking people to stay home for the Thanksgiving holiday and to stay home as much as possible. It’s unclear what that will mean for holiday shopping.
Karr said retailers are likely going to space out the shopping season.
“They’re not going to drive the deals,” Karr said. “Deals are going to be available more broadly throughout the holiday season as opposed to concentrated at certain time frames. They’re going to do their best to spread out consumer demand.”
Karr said while there likely won’t be video of consumers brawling for the hottest Black Friday deal, he worries about other brawls with possible mask mandate enforcement.
“And that has been a real issue because we’re being asked to enforce mask mandates but we don’t have the legal law enforcement capability or authority to really do that,” Karr said.
That could set up a situation where confrontations turn physical, Karr warned.
Springfield is the only municipality that has approved a civil penalty against individuals for not wearing a mask inside a business.
Simon-Kucher & Partners released a survey of 11,000 consumers across 14 countries and found the pandemic has impacted shopping behavior. Among the most noticeable changes, the group said, is the shift to online shopping, but with a focus on shopping local.
“In the US, the average budget for 2020 Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping is $236, down from $267 in 2019.”
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