Businesses Prepare To Reopen As Minnesota's Stay-At-Home Order Is Set To Expire
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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- After seven weeks of restrictions under Minnesota's stay-at-home order, businesses will get the green light to reopen doors to customers and people will be allowed to gather with friends and families under certain conditions.
At Queen Anna House of Fashion, in the North Loop of Minneapolis, owner Nicole Jennings has spent the past two months fulfilling online orders and coming up with a plan to reopen safely.
For her, it includes turning her store into a showroom, with one of each size of clothing, to limit the number of items customers touch. She and her employees will wear masks and do temperature checks and, under Gov. Tim Walz's order, will operate at half capacity.
The governor requires each retailer to have a safety plan in place. This applies to both stand-alone stores and those in shopping malls.
While some store owners, like Jennings, feel ready to reopen, others have told WCCO they were surprised by Walz's decision, with four days to prepare.
"A lot of our distributors and vendors are still offline and our inventory is out of whack right now," said Dan Marshall, who owns Mischief Toy Store. "The store itself is still a mess and we're still waiting on a sneeze guard to put up on our register."
The vast majority of the service industry, including bars, restaurants, barbershops and salons, will remain closed under the governor's order. However, state health officials are working on a plan to allow them to safely reopen as early as June 1.
Walz also announced people can gather with friends and family members in groups with 10 people or fewer.
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