Annie McGuire Interiors (photo courtesy Bob Schneider)

By Chantal Wagner

multi-stage rollout

Retailers, restaurants, hair salons included in Alberta’s phase one relaunch plan

May 1, 2020 | 11:20 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Whether it’s a beer at a pub with friends, shopping at your favourite store, or getting a fresh haircut.

There’s a lot we’ve been missing over the last month and a half with COVID-19 public health rules.

But if all goes well with Alberta’s relaunch plan and case counts and hospitalizations don’t spike, retailers, hairstylists, and clothing stores can reopen on Thursday, May 14.

The province says cafés, and restaurants with no bar service can also open at 50 percent capacity in phase one.

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“Operating within new public health guidelines, addressing things like the number of customers and disinfecting protocols,” Premier Jason Kenny said on Thursday afternoon.

Owner of Plush Salon and Spa Jenna Engel says they’ve been planning their reopening since they were closed in March and she feels good about easing back non-essential services.

“We’re also just thinking about opening longer hours, to begin with too, and just keeping a smaller amount of staff and people in the building at a time.”

Engel says face masks and gloves will also be worn and they’ll continue to have hand sanitizer at the front desk and door.

On the retail side, owner of Annie McGuire Interiors Allison Dreher says opening again would be extremely exciting.

But to do so with caution, as safety of staff and customers are most important.

“I even thought about when we soft launch should we do one on one and then that way we can provide safety for the customer, have them come in, have them wash their hands, clean after they leave, and certainly social distancing we don’t work in close quarters,” Dreher said.

It’s been a long haul for the hospitality industry according to the owner of Rossco’s Pub.

Ross Beach says they’ve been patiently waiting to get their doors open and staff back to work as soon as possible.

“If we’re only going to have 50 seats with still the 6 feet apart social distancing it’s going to be tough for businesses to bring their employees back because you will not need a lot of the employees to serve 50 people,” he said.

The new normal had some businesses shuttered for the time being or offering product online for pick-up and delivery.

And as a customer told Dreher during this time, “When it’s tough the tough get going.”

“I was worried about how do you look after your customers. There are birthdays there was Easter and Mother’s Day coming. You want to make sure that you still provide a service to your customers that value you and have supported you in regular times,” Dreher said.

Premier Jason Kenney says the relaunch strategy depends on how well Albertans continue following public health rules to keep the spread of COVID-19 in check.