Coronavirus Update: California, Bay Area Preparing For Stage 2 Reopening From Coronavirus Lockdown
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state will be moving from Stage 1 to Stage 2 in its efforts to reopen California from its current coronavirus shutdown as early as Friday.
Businesses that can reopen with modifications include bookstores, music shops, toy stores, clothing stores, florists and sporting goods stores.
Dine-in restaurants, shopping malls and offices will have to wait.
Still, the governor made clear that city and county governments will have the final say in what can and cannot reopen, and can continue stricter measures.
"People love coming into shops, and it's our everything," said Steve Stevenson, owner of 1-2-3-4 Go! Records.
Stevenson's everything basically vanished, when he was forced to temporarily close both locations of 1-2-3-4 Go! Records in San Francisco and Oakland. The loss amounted to more than $100,000 in sales.
"As early as the end of this week, you will have the capacity as a retailer with the modifications and the guidelines we set forth on Thursday to begin to reopen for pickup," said Newsom.
It's welcome notice for Stevenson.
"It's a big improvement to be able to have local pickup like that. Right now, we're only legally able to ship things to people and that can sort of be a barrier to people," he said.
The Margaret Elizabeth jewelry store says 80 percent of its sales came from its brick-and-mortar shop in San Francisco's Marina District, before the pandemic.
"If we're only allowed to reopen for curbside pickup, it's a little tricky for us," said owner Meg Shackleton. "Because essentially what happened when we first went into the shelter-in-place is, like a lot of businesses, we pivoted to more of an e-commerce model."
Shackleton says she isn't sure if hiring back staff for pickup only services makes sense at this stage.
"We want to also give these businesses time to know exactly what's expected and also to know what are the things that they need to prepare for as they begin to reopen," said Mayor London Breed.
Breed said that the city would work with the governor's office to coordinate a potential move to stage 2, but did not guarantee anything would reopen on Friday.
