Stores across Texas will be able to start 'retail to go' service on Friday. It's part of Governor Greg Abbott's plan to gradually reopen the state.
Spice Village, a collection of shops in Waco has been around since 1997. Owner Jennifer Wilson said for the first time, they're having to do all their sales online.
"When you've got 40 different vendors here, that's 40 different small businesses that are being affected by us being completely shut down,” Wilson said.
They have been closed for weeks. Being able to do ‘retail to-go’ will help, according to Wilson, but it might not be enough.
"Not being able to see and touch and feel and smell, it's going to be challenging,” Wilson said.
However, she remains optimistic that this is a step in the right direction.
With the new ‘retail to-go’ guidelines, customers will be able to go to stores only to pick up things they’re buying.
‘Retail to-go’ guidelines:
- Payments should be contactless and done by phone or electronically.
- Items should be delivered to the customers' backseat or trunk.
- Workers must wash or sanitize their hands after each interaction.
Callie’s Boutique in Temple pride themselves in their customer service. Owner Misty Dollar said they have been closed for weeks after they were deemed non-essential.
"It will help having a little bit of the restrictions lifted, but I'm really looking forward to the day where I can have people back in the store,” Dollar said.
They quickly had to adapt to this new way of doing business.
"I'm just really hoping that the community rallies around all of us with small businesses,” Dollar said.
Governor Greg Abbott said he will go into specifics about ‘retail to-go’ on April 27.
Spice Village will begin doing live sales via Facebook.
Callie’s Boutique will sell their items via social media.
Callie's owner, Misty Dollar, said the store is hoping to launch its website by Saturday.
Kim Charlet, the owner of Adorn Boutiques, which has a location in Waco, has teamed up with other Waco-area boutiques to provide a Bingo game with rewards for customers who shop the different locally-owned boutiques. For more information, click here to go to Adorn Waco's Facebook page.
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