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Workers at HouseMart Ben Franklin Crafts at Queen Ka'ahumanu Center on Thursday were reconfiguring the store to accommodate social distancing and restocking shelves to be ready to open its doors Monday after being closed for about seven weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic and emergency orders.
Plexiglass will be installed at registers, hand sanitizers will be available, everyone -- customers and staff -- will need to wear a mask and markers on the floor will allow for social distancing (7 feet at the Maui store), said Joy Shimabukuro, creative director of HouseMart.
Ben Franklin is one of the businesses that has elected to open Monday. Gov. David Ige's 7th Supplemental Emergency Proclamation on Tuesday allowed the reopening of retail stories, including shopping malls, as well as other low-customer-contact businesses.
On Wednesday, Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino said stores and malls could reopen Monday.
"I'm looking forward to this reopening of at least a partial part of our community, especially our commercial community," said Victorino during his news conference Thursday afternoon.
Retailers are "really excited" about reopening Monday and that "we've given them a little bit more time to get ready and to prepare their facilities, their employees, for the new norm," he said.
In Makawao, Collections store owner Jennie Spenser said in an email: "Yes, definitely opening Monday!!!"
She was "so sad" though, about not being able to open before Mother's Day on Sunday.
"Bad decision for the economy. Was two or three days really going to make a difference?" she asked.
Spenser said her Upcountry boutique will be open "totally clean and sanitized with masks and Clorox and hand sanitizer."
Other small businesses, such as Tasaka Guri-Guri at the Maui Mall, said they will not reopen Monday and were not sure when they would start up again.
The larger malls on Maui, Queen Ka'ahumanu Center and Maui Mall in Kahului and the Outlets of Maui and Whaler's Village in West Maui, could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday. Those mall websites, Facebook and Instagram pages early Thursday evening did not list any updates on reopenings.
"I have not heard anything from shopping centers or malls," Victorino said during his news conference. "I'm going to assume they have a pretty good plan in place. We will reach out to them in the next day or two to find out how they are approaching it with their clients, what clients and what retailers they are allowing to open up, what stores they are allowing to open up."
Managing Director Sandy Baz reminded the public that there are some things that will not be open at malls, such as food court dining areas, play and entertainment areas, beauty salons, game rooms, theaters and common areas, except to access and depart from a retail business.
Down in South Maui at The Shops at Wailea, Diana Whitt, general manager/vice president property management, said Thursday that she could not share a definitive list of retailers opening Monday but will share updates of store openings as they are confirmed.
But currently confirmed tenants that are open are Island Gourmet Markets, Fidelity Title (by appointment) and Wailea Realty.
To ensure Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines are followed, Whitt said security officers and staff are in place to actively remind and encourage shoppers to maintain a proper distance from one another, to refrain from shopping in groups and that common area seating has been temporarily removed to encourage social distancing.
There also will be hand-sanitizing stations installed throughout center, including at the upper/lower elevator, top and bottom of each escalator and other strategic locations. Escalator rails and elevator buttons will be sanitized hourly.
There will be signs to remind people to wear face coverings and floor markers to allow for physical distancing while walking.
Mall vendors and staff also are required to self-monitor their health and wellness and to not come to work if they are ill or have COVID-19 symptoms, Whitt said.
When more stores open up, the mall's operating hours, which are reduced due to the pandemic, will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday and from noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
Back at Ben Franklin, store hours also will be reduced; they will open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.
"My team and I are excited to welcome back our customers," said Kaahumanu store manager Lei Lee in an email.
Shimabukuro said that since the store was closed March 20, HouseMart was able to redeploy workers to its three HouseMart Ace Hardware stores on Maui, which are located in Kihei, Pukalani and Lahaina.
There also were limited periods when the Queen Ka'ahumanu Center Ben Franklin conducted curbside pickups for merchandise.
Like Spenser, Shimabukuro expressed sadness over not having the annual Mother's Day craft fair at the mall. The store also would have assisted with the annual Maui Matsuri festival, which would have been held this month but was canceled.
* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com. Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.