Malls Will Reopen Albeit With All The Precautions

The decision of the Government to open the malls has been welcomed by the retail sector. Abhishek Bansal, Executive Director, Pacific Group elaborates on their preparedness for opening up the malls.   Is the company ready with necessary measures to open up the malls? We are planning to open our Pacific D21 Mall and Pacific Tagore Garden Mall from 9th & 13th June respectively. We have taken a call to be proactive after the opening of the mall and contribute our bit in fight against Corona. Apart from various social distancing and hygiene guidelines, we will give educational messages through online and offline platforms on Covid-19 by use of two characters Harry and Jazz – Live size cut outs, social media animations, etc. What will be the health & hygiene measure taken in the premises? We have taken a decision to have a hospital partner for training and support; and Covid-19 Task Force and ERT for strict adherence and action wherever required. We are bringing in state of the art Contactless Food Ordering and Payments app at all our food courts; and will encourage cashless payment methods at all stores and food court counters. Shoppers too have to chip in with efforts towards choosing cashless payment methods. We will also introduce Plexi Glass screens at the checkout / payment terminals to avoid direct contact between customers and staff. Some of the steps that will be introduced for crowd & staff monitoring? We will ensure that people with visible symptoms and high temperature do not enter the premises. All the shoppers and staffers have to go through daily temperature check and wear masks. All this in addition to other guidelines such as availability of contactless sanitizers, disinfection of various areas, controlled customer entry at mall and each store, immersive disinfection of air conditioning and fresh air system, encouragement of social distancing practices, alternate seating arrangements in all Food & Beverage outlets, isolation Room for customers and staff with symptoms, etc.