GUWAHATI: With all standalone shops now allowed to remain open during the extended lockdown, stores have adopted innovative ways to keep the coronavirus at bay.
‘Mini Containment Zones’, a concept unheard of, is an approach being adopted by a few sportswear chains, with stores across the city.
“One out of the two trial rooms that we have, has been turned into an ‘In-store Mini Containment Zone’,” said Sunny Singh, Operations Manager of a major sports retail chain with stores across the north east region.
“We have to let customers try on the clothes before they purchase. Our clothes cost anywhere between Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 3,000. We let customers try 3 pieces at the maximum and the clothes left behind by them are kept in a separate ‘containment zone’. We then sanitize these clothes and even shoes and put them back on display to ensure the highest standards of safety for our customers,” the Operations Manager added.
On the returns and exchange policy, the manager added that they keep the merchandise in special containment areas within the stores for a longer period, and then sanitize them before placing them back on display.
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Stores across the city have adopted appropriate measures to curb the possible spread of coronavirus in the city. From installing taps for washing hands outside stores, offering sanitizers to customers at entrances, recording temperatures, sealing of trial rooms, social distance marking to maintaining records of visitors and customers throughout the day, stores in the city have left no stone unturned to ensure safety of shoppers in Guwahati.
There was also much confusion over whether or not big stores would be allowed to open; large standalone stores which bear resemblance to malls are also allowed to remain operational as per guidelines of the Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup Metro.
In their own new ways, large and small retail outlets across the city are slowly opening up for Guwahatians. Shops are now gearing up to fight the virus as the city limps back to normalcy in the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown.