Assistant manager Kaila Yoachum, left, and product buyer Allison Scott promote products during a live online video session at their store, Apricot Lane Boutique, at the Galleria in Dallas, Friday April 24, 2020. Scott said that online video sales was part of their business model, instituting the service to the clients several months before the COVID-19 pandemic. Scott said the online sales alone are what is helping their business survive through the health crisis. Lifting restrictions that were in place due to the new coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Greg Abbott announced that retail stores would be allowed to reopen and conduct curbside service beginning Friday. Galleria Dallas has begun a “Retail-To-Go” initiative which allows businesses at the retail location to re-open and conduct sales either online or over the phone. The process allows for retailers to deliver their product to their customers at a drive up lane that has been set up in front of the mall that is open daily from noon to 6 p.m. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
As Texas eases restrictions put in place to fight the coronavirus pandemic, one clothing store owner said Saturday that most of her customers so far are sticking to having orders shipped even though retail "to go" is now allowed.
Allison Scott, who along with her parents owns a franchise of the clothing store Apricot Lane in Dallas, said though that she thinks the "to go" offering does provide some happiness to those "who are just itching to go somewhere."
"We have the few people who want the immediate gratification. They want to go order it and come pick it up and have it and not worry about the mail," said Scott, who is also the store's buyer.
Around the world, countries are taking cautious steps toward easing lockdowns imposed amid the pandemic.
As of Friday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, allowed retailers to sell items for curbside pickup. Also this week, he reopened state parks and is allowing doctors to perform nonessential surgeries. But appointments at salons and dine-in restaurant service, for instance, are still not yet allowed.
At Galleria Dallas, the shopping mall where Scott's Apricot Lane store is located, shoppers can now pull up and their purchases are placed in their vehicle. Scott said that on Friday they took five orders down to customers, and none on Saturday.
She said that as much as she'd like to see things return to the way they were and people be allowed to shop in person again, she thinks it's too risky health-wise right now.
"I want to be open more than anything but I don't think that society is ready to come out either," she said.
With the opening Friday of retail "to go," a handful of other businesses around the state reopened even though they weren't supposed to. Those included a hair salon in Dallas that got a citation for opening to give haircuts and do nails.
Texas has reported 623 deaths and about 24,000 overall cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. The number of infections is likely much higher because many people have not been tested and studies suggest people can be infected and not feel sick.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
