A steady stream of customers came and went throughout the early afternoon at the Boscov’s location in Camp Hill on May 23. The sunny Saturday was only the second day of Cumberland County’s newly granted “yellow” status under Governor Tom Wolf’s plan to reopen the state during the coronavirus pandemic, and shoppers were eager to take advantage of the opportunity.
“It has been truly amazing,” said Clarence Banks, store manager. “We’re so glad to see all of our customers, and some news customers, to our location. They have accepted our sanitizing stations, our carts being cleaned, the precautions we’ve taken with Plexiglas and wiping down after every customer - they’ve been very appreciative for that.”
A cheerful staff member stood just within the first set of doors, eager to hold open the door, provide hand sanitizer or gloves, and ensure that all customers wore masks inside the building - with masks being sold for $1 right at the entrance.
These precautions were among the many new ones put in place due to COVID-19, according to Banks. He sang the praises for his store’s staff, who were now tasked with regularly wiping the doors at the store’s entrance, the checkout areas, and increased frequency of cleaning the restroom areas. Plexiglass screens were in place at the store’s registers, with markers on the ground to guide customers to keep a safe distance apart as they waited to ring up their purchases.
Banks said that when the store opened at 11 a.m., it seemed as if they were “close to a Black Friday pace” in regards to how many customers were coming in the store, with customers lined up at the door the whole way to the Staples location in the same shopping plaza. The process had been smooth, with no problems among customers - no one refusing to wear masks, for instance, or arguing with the store’s staff about new restrictions.
The store’s usual maximum capacity was close to 3,000, Banks said. That number is halved under the governor’s yellow restrictions. But even on a Black Friday, he said, they’d rarely get close to that number, and didn’t expect to approach 1,500 customers at any point.
“We’d love to see it!” he said. “But it hasn’t been that way.”
There was nervous energy among those who entered the store, with several finding themselves locking eyes with nearby strangers above their masks and expressing relief at the idea of being able to be out again. Many gave wide berths to others as they passed one another between clothing racks and walkways.
But avoiding others completely was difficult, if not impossible, for at least some portions of the visit. Shoppers were often in groups, with children accompanying many families. Bottlenecks at the entrance and exits were unavoidable, as were groups in line for checkout at registers, which tended to crowd closer than the markings on the floor indicated.
“I don’t know how you can enforce that [6-foot distance] when everyone is walking around,” said Terry Wallace of Boiling Springs. “There’s no way you can enforce that policy.”
Wallace had come to Boscov’s in order to return an item he’d purchased nearly three months ago - with the shutdown orders in place, this was the first opportunity in that time for him to do so. He wore a red had with “TRUMP” written across it in white letters, and said while he was eager to volunteer for President Trump’s campaign again in the upcoming 2020 election, plans to do so were being stalled due to the pandemic.
“I always thought it was real and always took precautions,” he said about the coronavirus, noting that he had taken some heat from friends and fellow Republicans for doing so, and that he had supported Wolf’s mandatory shutdowns throughout Pennsylvania early on. But he felt at this point, keeping businesses closed had become a political maneuver by Democratic governors.
“I just hope that they find a vaccine for this and get things back to normal,” he added.
Maria Varnalis had traveled across the Susquehanna River from Dauphin County, which remains in the red phase of Wolf’s shutdown orders until May 29. Other than trips to grocery stores, Target or Lowe’s for necessities, she said, it was her first time out. But even when Dauphin County goes to yellow, she said, she still won’t be able to reopen her hair salon.
- RELATED: Dauphin, 7 other counties will move to yellow coronavirus phase on May 29, all of Pa. out of red phase by June 5
- RELATED: ‘We missed our customers,’ say Cumberland County shop owners as they cautiously reopen
“I need to get back to work,” she said. “But I’ve been patient! I’ve moved my clients’ [appointments] three times, and I may have to move them again. But I’m getting tired.”
Varnalis said that it seemed everyone within the store was following the new rules, and that she would do the same as long as was necessary. She did admit to temporarily removing her bandana face covering while within the store, but only if she was having trouble breathing, and only when she was not near other shoppers.
“I came out today essentially for things I needed,” said Tania Lascowski, another Cumberland County resident who used to work in the medical field, from behind a floral-print, hand-sewn mask. “I want to get in and get out!”
Lascowski said it was “unbelievable” how many people were out shopping, and that she was not “out here for an activity to do.” And she was further surprised when she saw people not wearing masks the whole time they were inside.
“I questioned it myself [if I saw other people not wearing masks], but I didn’t say anything," she said. "There’s probably a medical reason they didn’t have it on. But for the most part, it’s fine.”
Joe Ricci of Boiling Springs was among those who had visited the store for “something to do.”
“It’s mentally helping,” he said. “After you stay cooped up for as many weeks as we’ve been inside our homes, this is nice.”
Ricci has been collecting unemployment compensation since the shutdown began and he lost his work at a warehouse. And while he said that so many stories circulating about the virus may make things difficult for some, the best path forward was to follow the precautions laid out by the CDC and Dr. Anthony Fauci.
“The ones who aren’t, I scratch my head over,” he said. “But it’s their own prerogative. You can’t go in anywhere without a mask. That’s the way it should be. It’s smart.”
Ricci also sung the praises of the Boscov’s staff, saying that they had been courteous and helpful while implementing the new standards. Between the trip to the store and the nice weather, he said, “it’s what we needed.” But he was also quick to caution against those felt that the crisis was over.
“I just don’t want people to think that this is something that, ‘oh we can take our masks off and have all this frivolity’,” he said. “Because it’s not that. Not by a long shot.”
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