With designer outlets and stores reopening, here’s how Covid-19 has changed the retail scene

Your next visit to a designer or a retail store will no longer be the same. While masks and gloves are mandatory, some stores won’t allow you to use the trial room or even touch the clothes with unsanitised hands, and online transfer will be encouraged. With the designer and multi brands slowly getting back on their feet, they tell us about the precautions they are taking to get things started again.

Designer duo Shantanu and Nikhil Mehra, who have now opened their flagship stores in Delhi and Hyderabad, are ensuring that they follow all safety measures. “Walk-ins at the store are through appointment basis only. We entertain one client at a time. There will be very few staff in the store. The racks and handles inside are being sanitised regularly. And most importantly, all the garments used for trials are being sanitised and kept in isolation for 48 hours,” says Nikhil Mehra.

The similar safety protocol is also being followed in designer Manish Malhotra’s flagship store, which recently reopened in the capital. Taking to social media, the designer wrote, “We are opening our Delhi flagship store with limited people at work and store visits by appointment.”

With Malls still closed, retail stores having a standalone outlet have opened in the city following the odd-even rule, from 10 am to 5 pm. Retail giant Marks & Spencer told us that they have opened alternate cash tills and encouraging customers to use digital payments. Trial rooms are temporarily closed. They have also installed sneeze guards for advanced protection, besides the usage of face masks, sanitisers and gloves. 

Brands like Good Earth are even requesting the customers to refrain from touching the surfaces in the store and avoid physical contact with the other person as much as possible.

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