The future of retail in Texas might come with lots of safety measures and precautions, but that's not stopping people from shopping.
—a glass of Champagne, an on-site seamstress, a warm greeting—without violating social distancing regulations?
Across the Lone Star State, retailers large and small have taken similar measures. Saks Fifth Avenue, which opened its stores in San Antonio and Houston, is keeping its housekeeping staff working all day to regularly sanitize the store. Markers on the escalators will denote six feet, and elevators are reserved for those who cannot use the escalators.
Socially distanced shopping, whether through in-store appointments or calling ahead for curbside pickup—options that all three retailers interviewed for this piece now offer—has potential to become the new normal. It might seem isolating, but in fact this is a retail experience that is far more personal than just stumbling into a store and thumbing through racks.
In this, a salesperson at a store is no longer a nameless clerk behind a desk. A store is not a place to sit down while you wait for your brunch reservation. The act of shopping, of spending the money you have to support a designer, a boutique, and an economy, is not passive—it’s active, intentional, and careful.
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