Palliduim Mall reopened with strict precautions. Stores limit number of customers at a given time. Pic/Bipin Kokate
Despite the heavy downpour, the Palladium Mall was buzzing when we arrived shortly after noontime. At the entrance, we put our bags through a UV scanner for disinfection and stepped on a sanitation mat.
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Inside, we noticed that each store had a sign indicating the maximum number of customers at any given time, depending on their size. At our first stop, Zara, customers were limited to 62. Bobbi Brown, the make-up favourite, had a limit of two customers owing to the small size of the store.
Many stores had implemented their own sanitisation protocol, but nearly all had a sanitisation station at entry. However, temperature checks varied from store to store, as did their policies about trials.
Also Read: Mumbai Unlock 3.0: 'Sanitisation today, will deal with customers from tomorrow,' say shop owners
Zara has permitted trials, and the garments undergo UV disinfection and steam ironing before being returned to the racks. But some others, like Muji, have a no-trial policy.
Bobbi Brown has a strict no-contact policy, and though the testers for lipsticks and other colour cosmetics are on display, customers are prohibited from using them.
At the Tissot showroom, we were told that only four customers had visited so far, but they had already made a sale. "In Bangalore, Delhi, Lucknow, and Kolkata, there's been a dramatic increase in footfall and sales... We anticipate that business in Mumbai will recover faster than in other cities. In fact, our regular guests have responded to the reopening with much enthusiasm and we expect much higher numbers over the next few days," said Rajendra Kalkar — president (West) of The Phoenix Mills, which operates Palladium Mall at Lower Parel.
Also Read: Mumbai unlock 3.0: Malls open after 4 months but footfall less
Around 60 to 80 people were at the mall during our visit.
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