The Ontario government has announced certain businesses will be allowed to reopen with certain health restrictions put in place.
On Friday, nurseries, garden centres and hardware stores were allowed to open their doors to customers for the first time in several weeks due to the COVID-19 restrictions.
But things aren’t business as usual for every store, as customers and employees are asked to continue to practise social distancing and sanitize their hands before entering stores.
While many locations are now having a limited amount of customers entering their stores, the Atkinson Home Hardware Store in Kingston, Ont., is practicing extra caution before they open their doors to the public.
“We’re not rushing into reopening our doors today. … we are going to make sure all of our customers have face masks; if they don’t have one we will provide them with one,” says Brent Atkinson, the financial coordinator for Atkinson Home Hardware.
Atkinson says they are currently allowing customers to visit their location from their outdoor kiosk, where employees can provide customers the items they are looking for.
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He says they plan to open in a few days but first they want to ensure they have proper personal protective equipment for all employees and have the proper health and safety guidelines set up in their store.
“All of the precautionary measures are going to help us get back to a state of comfort,” says Atkinson.
After being closed for months, Atkinson says they would like to get back to normal, but he believes PPE equipment, including masks, may have to be worn in Ontario stores for several more months.
If people aren’t comfortable entering into their hardware store just yet, Atkinson says they will continue to offer customers the opportunity to pick up items outside through their kiosk.
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