E.P. Retail Stores Opened Friday But It Sure Didn't Look Like It

There have been a few substantive changes to El Paso’s Covid-19 response measures. With a few exceptions, everyone is required to wear a mask or face covering when they go out in public. Great. Just in time for 100 degree temperatures we have to start ADDING clothes. Also, as of Friday April 24th, retail stores were allowed to resume business…on the condition that they follow the “curbside pick-up model”.

I’m sure some did but…I didn’t see any. Burlington Coat Factory, Tuesday Morning…the malls! From what I could tell from my car driving past, NONE of them looked open for business. And, as I opined in an article last week. it’s no wonder. Are any customers actually going to go through the process of 1.) deciding what they want 2.) placing the order with the store and 3.) waiting the 7-10 business days it takes until your order is ready to be picked up? Also, has anyone EVER gone into a store like, say, Ross’s Dress for Less knowing EXACTLY what they want.

And as far as on-line shopping goes, there are a couple of issues. Many retail stores don’t have the exact same inventory. What they have in one Tuesday Morning is likely different than what is in stock at another Tuesday Morning. And before you say, “OK, Boomer” to me I’d like to point out that many well-known retailers don’t even have a working website for placing orders.

If you wanted to shop online at Marshall’s, for example, this is what you would see on their site:

Marshalls

How about Ross’s website?

Ross Dress For Less

The point here is, you’d be surprised how many of your favorite retail stores either don’t have an on-line shopping option or they do but it’s closed down because of ‘Rona.

I think many of the retailers know that this isn’t how their customers shop, that the process is more hassle than it’s worth, and they’d actually LOSE money by re-opening in such an inconvenient way. Which doesn’t seem all that fair because, through all this, people have been allowed to go into Walmart and shop for W(ever)TF they want.