The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

SCORES of shoppers made their way to Kelly's Mall at the Marathon location as hardware and home stores reopened yesterday.

When The Tribune canvassed the area, a line of about 60 customers trailed along the pavement and stretched to the mall's entrance nearest Island Luck. Security at the door made sure face masks were being worn and controlled how many people were being let in at a time.

People appeared to be shopping for a variety of items, but fans and gardening supplies seemed to be popular.

After queuing for half an hour, plant nursery owner Robert Archer walked out with plant pots and some mulch in his trolley needed that day for his small business.

Plant nurseries are allowed to open their doors on Mondays and Thursdays. He said he was extremely busy on Monday with a couple hundred people coming in - a different picture to the gruelling days he experienced prior to reopening.

"I had to do a lot myself," he said. "I still kept one or two staff for two days. The National Insurance hasn't kicked in yet but really I had to be more hands-on and had to do a lot of work myself… I was able to use funds from the business."

Another shopper, who did not want to be named, said he works one day on and one day off. He wants to do gardening in his down time, hence his trip to Kelly's yesterday.

He admitted: "I'm home doing nothing, so I'm trying to get some things… Sitting at home doing nothing you know cause you'll go crazy."

Armed with a shopping list, Cher Strachan came ready to buy a water hose, a nozzle, fertilizer and seeds to dabble in some backyard farming. She also had light bulbs and most importantly a clothes line on her list as her clothes dryer broke down during the lockdown.

Ms Strachan said: "I was happy because it's kind of a necessity for me. So I was happy to hear that they were gonna be open. The line is moving quite quickly… I don't mind being in the sun."

Although there were some people standing 3ft to 6ft apart from each other on the line, Ms Strachan, who is a Ministry of Health employee, was dissatisfied with people not practicing social distancing when out in public. She explained: "Everywhere you go there are crowds and some people are still not adhering to the six feet distancing.

"A lot of people are not taking it seriously. I don't know what it's going to take. I mean it's something that's new to all of us and for the past month, four to six weeks now we've been dealing with this. So we should've been you know something that should already been settled into our psyche"

Near the back of the line, Remond Frazer was queuing patiently for a new fan as one of his was not working properly.

"I really need a fan. I can't burn an air conditioner straight through..." he explained. "I would actually go on the patio during the daytime until late in the evening and then I would go inside and then thug it out."

Home and hardware stores will be open Wednesdays and Fridays, from 8am to 8pm.

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