MA retailers reduce capacity Sunday as Phase 3 Step 1 rollback goes into effect

BOSTON — Retailers were busy with holiday shoppers this weekend less than two weeks before Christmas. At many stores, customers were welcomed with a warning of the new capacity limits in place as the state rolled back to Step 1 of Phase 3 Sunday.

“It’s been absolutely nonstop today,” said Analee Serena, who works at Follain on Charles Street. “I mean we have a stop sign on our door, so that makes it helpful to people to just not come in hot.”

Under the new rules, stores need to drop down to 40% capacity in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19. That means only a few customers are allowed inside at a time at those small shops on Charles Street in Boston.

“We call ourselves the door monitor,” said Jennifer Hill, owner of Blackstone’s in Beacon Hill. “We try to remind everybody we do have to keep head count down, we want to keep everyone safe.”

PREVIOUS: Statewide rollback to Step 1 of Phase 3 begins Sunday

So retailers are getting creative to keep the lines flowing during this busy time of year from outdoor sales, to curbside pickup, and even showcasing some products outside while people wait in line.

“Sometimes we bring our iPad outside [and ask], ‘do you know what you want,’ because we have a lot of regulars and we can just do their transaction outside,” Serena said.

“In the old days you could just come in and browse and spend a half an hour looking at things,” Hill said. “And it’s just kindly sometimes reminding people that there is a line, if you don’t both want to be shopping maybe one of you can wait outside.”

Many shoppers had no problem with the new restrictions, especially with Sunday’s mild weather.

“We’ve had to wait in a couple lines, we waited like 10 minutes and I don’t think it’s that bad of a thing,” said Kevin Harvey, shopping on Charles Street. “If that’s what we have to do to help protect everyone and make everything safe, I don’t think it’s a bad thing.”

Harvey said he doesn’t mind the lines and wearing a mask if it means supporting local, small businesses during a tough year.

Retailers said if you’d like to avoid waiting in line with these new capacity limits, you should try to find some time during the week to do your holiday shopping instead of waiting until the weekend before Christmas.

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