Retailers in our area and across Illinois are operating under some revisions to Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Stay at Home order. And the revisions have allowed some businesses to re-open for curbside and delivery fulfillment of telephone and online orders during the continuing COVID-19 emergency.
Many retailers, including grocery stores, hardware stores and pharmacies were deemed essential and have remained open since the governor first put in place the Stay at Home order in March. Those retailers continue to provide critical goods and services and have adjusted their operations to adhere to social distancing guidelines. Under the revised order, additional retailers such as clothing stores, sporting goods stores and others can re-open for curbside and delivery fulfillment of telephone and online orders.
The updated Stay at Home order also requires retailers to implement several safety guidelines including:
- Shoppers and employees are required to wear facial coverings while in stores. This rule applies to anyone over the age of two who can medically tolerate a mask, and requires both the nose and mouth to be covered;
- Stores must impose occupancy limits, restricting the number of people allowed into a store at any one time to either 50-percent of store capacity or limiting customers to five people per 1,000 square feet;
- Where practicable, stores will establish one-way aisles, which will be designated by signage and/or floor markings;
- Stores must discontinue the use of re-useable bags;
- Social distancing requirements will be communicated through in-store signage, public service announcements and advertisements.
‘’As retailers work to provide necessary goods and services throughout these challenging times, we ask everyone to please abide by these new requirements, which are designed to protect one another and ensure stores can remain open to meet a surge in need,’’ said Rob Karr, president and CCEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association.
