Joshua Parfitt
SPANISH clothing lines Mango has begun reopening shops in northern Europe, with 135 active in Austria and the Netherlands, while 483 more are due to open by the end of April.
The Catalan textile giant tentatively expects to reopen in Spain in June this summer – report El Pais – though no date has yet been fixed.
The protocols that Mango have implemented in their vanguard northern European shops, however, give us a taste for what clothes shopping may be like during a coronavirus pandemic.
Mango has announced shops will provide ‘gloves and hand sanitiser’, while staff will wear ‘masks’.
“Our capacity policy will be to allow the entry of a maximum of one person for every 10-20 square meters,” a company statement read. The measures translate to maintaining at least 1.5 metres distance between customers.
Dressing rooms to try on clothes are a particular point of issue: Mango has said it will keep them open, where allowed, but only let one person in at time.
They will alternate the designated booths to minimise risk of infection, and any returns will be ‘cleaned’ and put in ’48 hour’ quarantine before returning to the shop floor.
“Customers can pay by card or cash, and all payments will be made at the till, where the use of a credit card will be encouraged,” the statement continued.
Card machines will be cleaned after each sale.
Desigual, another Catalan clothing line, has mirrored Mango’s measures by stating customers will have to keep between ‘1 to 1.5 metres’ apart – report El Pais.
They have announced opening hours between 12pm and 6pm.
