Following the government of Quebec’s announcements allowing shopping centres to reopen in the greater Montreal area as of June 19, we have been able to welcome our customers back in our 18 centres across the province. All our food courts and restaurants have been open as well since Monday, June 22.
Our commercial recovery plan, based on accountability, included every aspect of the customer experience in order to meet the following objectives:
- Enforcing social distancing and manage risks pertaining to gatherings
- Ensuring our seniors’ safety
- Creating a safe and secure environment, both for our customers and our employees
Remarkable efforts were achieved to make sure that everything was in place to promote a safe and inviting environment, while ensuring the strictest compliance with government requirements in the following aspects:
Traffic and distancing
- Security guards posted at every entrance and circulating inside the premises to limit the number of occupants and promote distancing between people
- Restricting the duration of visits to the minimum necessary to carry out purchases
- Separately entrances and exits at designated access points and traffic “lanes” inside the centres
- Clearly marked locations dedicated to package pickup
- Planning of delivery and reception routes to minimize contacts with customers
- Promoting the use of stairs instead of elevators
Cleaning and hygiene measures
- Making hand sanitizing mandatory for every visitor prior to entering the centre
- Installation of hand sanitizing stations at various locations throughout the shopping centre
- Increased frequency of cleaning procedures for all contact points, to every hour
- Eliminating furniture and vending machines in common areas, as well as certain services and equipment such as coat check and consignment services, breast-feeding rooms, locker rental, public phones, water fountains, children’s rides and play areas, photo booths, and lending of portable chargers, baby carriages and wheelchairs
- Eliminating cash handling for gift card purchases
Mechanical systems and personal protective equipment
- Increasing the influx of fresh air in HVAC systems and ensuring that all air filtration systems are working properly
- Installation of acrylic panels and other physical measures to ensure distancing with customers
- Personal protective materials available for customers upon request
Communication and support
- Creation of a signage and display communication toolkit for use across our properties
- Reopening guide posted on every one of our centres’ website
- Communication on every centre’s social media pages redirecting the audience to the reopening guide
- Signs posted in the parking lot, at every entrance, at delivery docks and other locations throughout each shopping centre
- Stickers on the mirrors in public restrooms promoting proper hand-washing procedures
- Broadcast of the visitor’s code of conduct messages on digital screens in common areas
- Employee training on new customer service protocols, the visitor’s code of conduct and new cleaning procedures
- Close collaboration with our leading housekeeping and security partners
Our shopping centres reopened with an enthusiastic response from our retailers and our customers, with respect of safety instructions put in place. Almost all retailers have now reopened their doors and their respective schedules have been posted and are regularly updated on our shopping centres’ websites.
We are incredibly pleased to see that shopping centres are still at the heart of our communities’ purchasing habits and we will continue to ensure that their shopping experience is positive and safe.
We would like to thank our employees, our retailers, and our customers.
Physically distant – but more united than ever.