I spent yesterday at a discount mall (outdoors) about 30 minutes north of Frankfurt. So, there were two curious thing to note from this experience.
First, as you left the parking lot and came to the outdoor zone (roughly 50 shops)....here was the entry point with a mask-guard.
Yes....35-year old German woman in a guard-like uniform....just there to ensure you don't enter the zone without a mask.
Within the zone itself....a second roving mask-guard was to be noticed as well.
The second part of this experience was the attempt to enter various shops....where the sign on the front door of each noted how many people could enter at a time.
So you take a area of 100 square meters (1,075 sq ft) and the limit was two to three customers at a time. The larger shops (300 square meters)? Maybe five to six people.
I stood there watching crowds stand there in front of various shops....waiting for a chance to enter. It wasn't terribly cold (misty rain at the most), but I kept thinking....what happens in December with Christmas shopping? Would people play the waiting game, or just go home to order via on-line?
Are brick-and-mortar shops in serious jeopardy this year because of Covid ban rules?
At the end of this experience (nothing bought from the day visit)....my German wife had a negative perception of the ban rule shopping. I would imagine half the population is looking at the way that things work and shaking their head. In six weeks....Christmas shopping would start up, and it just doesn't look that thrilling.
No comments:
Post a Comment