Welcome Back Customers-

Some Stores Try Soft Opening Post COVID

The entryway to the Helen & Louise clothing store at 1804 Canal Street in Merced is decorated in a big way as the shop welcomes visitors back inside following the COVID restrictions. Photo-Steve Newvine

If celebrating is worth doing, often times it’s worth overdoing.

Take for example the big display of balloons that cover the upper façade to the Helen and Louise clothing store in downtown Merced.

“It’s been a great day for us,” said Bree Migliazzo about the return of customer traffic inside the store at the corner of 18th Street and Canal Street.

Since the start of the COVID restrictions in March, Helen & Louise kept their business going with hope that the day would come when customers could come back inside and shop.

When that day finally arrived May 8th, they reopened with a big celebration.

“The outdoor design came from Collective Creations, a local company", Bree said. “ Another local business, Jen’s Cakes, prepared special treats to celebrate the occasion.”

Merced Antique Mall is one of several downtown Merced stores that reopened to indoor customer traffic as part of the relaxing of some of the COVID restrictions impacting retailers. Photo- Steve Newvine

There was optimism among the vendors at the Merced Antique Mall along Main Street as well.

“We’re going to try it, and we hope it pays off,” one of the vendors told me as we were greeted at the entrance.

What the Antique Mall and several other Main Street businesses are trying is part of a broader effort to get commercial activity restarted in the community.

The COVID restrictions closed businesses deemed non-essential by the State Health Department.

In accordance with Governor Newsom’s shelter in place executive order issued in March, Merced’s downtown was effectively closed for business.

“We used the time to deep clean the entire store footprint,” the manager at the Merced Antique Mall told me. “Most of the vendors are offering specials to help get merchandise moving.”

As of May 8, restaurants such as the Bella Luna on Main Street in Merced continue their take-out sales in hopes that they will soon be able to serve customers in their dining area. Photo- Steve Newvine

The sign in front of the Bella Luna restaurant has the same message seen since the start of the COVID restrictions. A customer can come inside to pick up an order.

The dining establishment, along with many other restaurants, is open but only for take-out.

It’s hoped the easing of restrictions on dining rooms will be the next step toward fully restoring area restaurants as comfortable gathering points for customers who work or shop downtown.

Customers wait until Wells Fargo personnel determine there is sufficient social distancing space inside the branch in downtown Merced. Photo- Steve Newvine

Institutions like the Wells Fargo branch on 18th street allowed customers inside with a staff person at the door to make sure social distancing rules were followed.

Banks have been opened throughout the restrictions, but with shoppers and others returning to downtown, the line at the local bank branch appeared to be much longer than in recent days.

A staff person at the bank noted that the longer line may have been more about the traditionally heavier traffic on Friday.

She says the bank is using the same protocols employed at the start of the crisis.

Customers can come inside, but social distancing is the norm with someone stationed at the entrance to allow just the right number of people inside at any time.

“Most of the traffic is done at the teller window,” the staff person told me. “But if a customer needs to meet with a banker, they must make an appointment.”

All around the community, we’re observing the first stages of the return to normalcy in retailing, the restaurant industry, and banking.

It’s been a rough two-month period for local companies.

Many are hoping customers haven’t forgotten them. Bree Migliazzo from Helen & Louise said it best when she described how it feels to have customers coming into the store once again.

“We’re welcoming them with open arms,” she said. “It’s great to have them back.”

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His book Course Corrections- My Golf Truth, Fiction, and Philosophy, is available at Lulu.com