Nonessential Texas retailers can start offering curbside service today, and shopping centers have systems in place to accommodate those tenants that are offering the service. Beginning today daily, from noon to 6 at Galleria Dallas, which UBS Realty Investors owns and Trademark manages, shoppers who purchase from participating mall tenants. A rigorous pickup protocol protects the safety of both customers and sales associates: A customer places an order via phone or online with an individual retailer, then pulls into that retailer’s designated parking lot location. Store employees load purchases in the back seat or trunk. Customers must bring proof of purchase and identification.
Galleria Dallas management says the mall and its retailers are following all protocols from the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We are ready to support our retailers who are participating in retail-to-go but need to make sure we do it safely and in accordance with local government orders,” said Galleria Dallas general manager Angie Freed. Fourteen of the center’s stores and restaurants are participating, including Louis Vuitton, Bachendorf’s and the Dallas Cowboys Pro Shop.
Meanwhile at Dallas’ upscale, privately owned NorthPark shopping center, 16 stores are participating in retail-to-go programs. That includes the four anchor department stores — Dillard’s, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom — as well as Williams Sonoma, David Yurman and Saint Laurent. Six of the mall’s restaurants have been offering curbside pickup for a while. NorthPark shoppers must contact individual stores and arrange payment before driving to parking lot zones that are color-coded by retailer as guided by an online map to pick up purchases.
Dallas' NorthPark
In Houston, malls are introducing similar programs. “We’re anxious for them to get back to full operation as soon as possible,” Harry Hadland, vice president of property management at Metro National, told KPRC2. MetroNational owns Memorial City mall.
Rice Village, the upscale shopping district near Rice University, also is ready for retail-to-go. Participating retailers are Banana Republic, Beautique, Kendra Scott, Lily Rain, Mecox, Naked Natural, Soma and Tasc. The center’s Gap store is fulfilling orders via mail from its store. “Our stores are all committed to following all the guidance and requirements for six-[foot] social distancing, face coverings, hand washing and sanitizing, and contactless curbside pickup,” AJ Coffee, senior general manager at Rice Village Management Co., told Community Impact.
At San Antonio’s North Star Mall, Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy’s plan curbside service, and other tenants are considering it. Upscale lifestyle center The Shops at La Cantera also is opening for curbside pickup. Brookfield owns both properties.
San Antonio's North Star Mall
Independent retailers across Texas are offering to-go options, too. San Antonio-based Josephs has been showcasing products and gift cards on social media during the lockdown and is eager to get back to business. But co-owner Steve Rubin isn’t expecting a flood of business. “We see it as an encouraging first step but don’t expect to do much business through it,” he told San Antonio Express-News. “Things will recover eventually, and hopefully businesses will come back stronger and wiser.”
Half Price Books chief strategy officer Kathy Doyle Thomas was more hopeful that curbside service would help sales. “That immediacy is what curbside offers that mailing does not offer,” she said.
Ebele Iloanya, owner of ModChic Couture at Sugar Land Town Square, told Reform Austin she has found new ways to connect with shoppers during the pandemic. “We have been reaching out to our clients via SMS, newsletters and WhatsApp,” she said. “Our clients have always had the option of online shopping.”
Big-box stores like Academy Sports + Outdoors and Michaels have curbside pickup at their Texas stores, too. Customers who buy online receive emails or calls when their products are ready for pickup.
A Starbucks employee wears a facial covering while working the drive-thru in Dallas. Starbucks is requiring employees at its Texas stores to wear facial covering and is making thermometers available to employees who'd like to take their temperatures before starting a shift
Kendra Scott, whose eponymous jewelry company will start curbside pickup today at 24 stores in Texas, served on an expert panel that advised Abbott to start reopening nonessential businesses. “Our brand was built on experience, and now more than ever, we believe it is important to keep that genuine connection to our customer,” vice president of retail Colleen Wilson said. “With this new curbside initiative, Texas customers can enjoy a new and easy-to-access way to connect and shop with us, particularly in the weeks leading up to Mother’s Day.”
South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida similarly have announced that business and recreational closures and social gatherings will ease within the next week. Abbott said he will roll out further business openings in Texas on Monday.
For more state-by-state business updates and mandates, visit ICSC's COVID-19 Information & Resources Center.
By Brannon Boswell
Executive Editor, Commerce + Communities Today
