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The shops are open, the malls are empty: "People are confused because of the corona and afraid to come" - Walla! news

2022-01-11T12:05:40.468Z


Just yesterday a new Corona layout was announced for malls, but meanwhile the clothing stores are empty, the cafes sparse, sellers are reporting a tens of per cent drop in customer traffic - and only pharmacies are reporting an increase, following the demand for home inspections. "There has always been work, now - a catastrophe"


The shops are open, the malls are empty: "People are confused because of the corona and afraid to come"

Just yesterday a new Corona layout was announced for malls, but meanwhile the clothing stores are empty, the cafes sparse, sellers are reporting a tens of per cent drop in customer traffic - and only pharmacies are reporting an increase, following the demand for home inspections.

"There has always been work, now - a catastrophe"

Yoav Itiel and Shani Frumkin

11/01/2022

Tuesday, January 11, 2022, 1:50 p.m.

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In the video: Projector says at briefing that we are in a combined wave and that there is no policy of mass infection (Photo: GPO)

Although the government announced yesterday a new outline for malls and large stores, designed to address the plight of business owners, the fifth corona wave is hitting powerfully in commercial complexes.

In malls around the country, stores were seen today (Tuesday) almost empty, with sparse traffic of shoppers and vehicles in parking lots.



In the Grand Canyon in Haifa, there is almost no movement of shoppers in stores.

The cafes are not full, and they do have customers - but these are mostly regular customers, who visit them daily for a social gathering.

The significance of the spread of morbidity and the multiplicity of isolates can be immediately measured already in the parking lot: entire floors, where parking is usually difficult to locate even on mid-week days, seem almost abandoned.

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Sparse traffic.

The Grand Canyon in Haifa, today (Photo: Yoav Itiel)

"The decline in the number of buyers is very noticeable," says Walla!

Anastasia, sells in the big PULL & BEAR store in the mall.

She estimates that this is a decrease of about half the number of customers together to a week and two weeks ago, and also mentions that "the decrease due to the corona also comes on top of a seasonal decrease of the end-of-year holidays."



Married, too, sold at an American Eagle store, admits there has been a significant drop in the number of buyers.

"Obviously there is a big fall. On Tuesday afternoons there are usually a lot of shoppers here. Today between 11:00 and 12:00 maybe three or four came in. It's nothing. Let's hope he goes back to what he was," she said.

Even in the fast food complexes you feel the emptiness.

Sabrin, who works at a McDonalds counter in the mall, says there has been an 80% drop in the number of diners since Sunday.

Today, at noon, they sat there at only three tables.

Even the parking lots are empty.

The Grand Canyon in Haifa, today (Photo: Yoav Itiel)

Employees explain that the fear of infection, as well as the confusion regarding regulations, leaves the public at home.

"People are both afraid to come to the mall and confused," says the saleswoman at the Tzomet Sefarim store, which was also completely empty.

"People do not understand what regulations are constantly changing, do not know if it is allowed to come with children and under what conditions, and apparently the result is that in the end they stay at home."

More on Walla!

New layout for the commercial complexes: the green sign is canceled, the purple sign enters, and the responsibility passes to the malls

To the full article

The only seller in the mall who reports an increase in the number of customers is Suzanne, who works at the Super Pharm branch.

The reason for this is also related to the current morbidity situation.

"It's mostly customers who come to buy packages of home antigen tests," she says, explaining that at this point she has to reject them.

"Every day they bring us 300 packages, everything is hijacked. Even last night we ran out and we still did not receive any more."

Outside the store, the chain runs fast antigen tests for NIS 59 per test, but today there is no queue.

Those who do come to be tested do so at another position in the mall operated by MDA, which provides free tests.

A decrease of tens of percent in the number of customers.

The Grand Canyon in Haifa, today (Photo: Yoav Itiel)

The same is true for other malls around the country. Employees in the mall's stores in the center report declining activity in all indices. "There's a drop in customers, you see that in revenue too. There's nothing to compare," they say, "until a few weeks ago there were long queues here in cafes too, now empty. There is a significant difference, both mornings and evenings. There has always been work, now - catastrophe".



At Dizengoff Center, on the other hand, they said that already at the weekend they saw a halt in the declining trend in the number of customers.

And in recent days they have even identified a recovery - according to them, thanks to the purple character.

"Although we feel a change in the atmosphere and see that the audience is voting with their feet in favor of eliminating the green sign, but unfortunately we have not yet returned to the numbers we need to be in," says Dan Pilz, CEO and co-owner of Dizengoff Center. , On the day when the media and public discourse dealt with the abolition of the green mark.

We hope that this trend will strengthen and the number of visitors will return to normal, which will also be reflected in the public's support for local businesses. "

Expect next week - about a third of the labor force will be absent from the economy

The new corona regulations regarding large stores and malls went into effect yesterday, and from now on they will no longer operate within the green label conditions but under a tight purple label.



Under the new regulations, one person per 15 square meters will be allowed to enter malls and large stores, while in stores with an area of ​​less than 100 square meters, the ratio will be one in every seven square meters. All residents will be required to wear masks.

The clothing stores are also empty.

Ayalon Mall, today (Photo: Reuven Castro)

In addition, the new regulations impose on mall operators the responsibility to fence off food complexes and place ushers on their behalf who will test a green sign at the entrance to them as a condition of sitting at tables.

If mall operators do not do so, seating at tables in fast-food complexes will be completely banned, while customers who still want to purchase food will be required to present a green label at the time of purchase.

The mall operators must also place ushers who will oversee the wearing of the masks and the observance of the corona guidelines.



The change in guidelines comes amid the rapid spread of the omicron strain and morbidity peaks, as well as after widespread criticism from mall business owners, who were angry that the responsibility for checking the green label burdened them, accusing regulations of confusion and serious business damage.

At one point, business owners even threatened to strike.

The Grand Canyon in Haifa, today (Photo: Yoav Itiel)

The Ministry of Health updated this morning that 37,887 people have been diagnosed with coronary heart disease in the last day, with the positive test rate being 11.38%, and the infection rate rising to 2.05.

Alongside these, there has been a consistent increase in the number of patients in critical condition.

The figure has increased in the past day from 223 to 247, and in total by almost 50 in two days.

The number of respirators is 59. 8,271 people have died after being infected in Corona since the outbreak of the plague in Israel.



According to the data, 148,503 people are in isolation.

The National Emergency Authority estimated last night that 10% of the labor force will be absent from the economy today, with the expectation for next week being that 30% will be forced to be absent from work.

However, according to the forecast, no significant shortage is expected in the supply of essential products to the public.

  • news

  • Corona

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  • Corona virus

  • Malls

Source: walla

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