Retail Stores Prepare To Reopen But Business Will Look A Little Different

DENVER (CBS4)- The wait to open is over for Denver businesses offering personal services and non-essential retail stores, like clothing boutiques.

Beginning Saturday, these businesses can reopen while following strict social distancing guidelines and best health practices. Masks are required to enter all stores.

"It's an interesting time. We are as concerned as everybody else about opening, but it's nice to be able to get back to some normalcy as well," said Abby Miller, owner of Darling Denver Boutique in Cherry Creek North.

Miller was outside her boutique Friday morning, preparing the front lawn for customers to arrive on Saturday. Her small retail space doesn't allow for many people to shop at a safe distance, so she's adding a pop-up shop out front.

"Only one customer or group in at time. We're definitely taking appointments. There will be limited trying on clothes. Clean and sanitizing everything after every customer. We're kind of still learning like everyone else," said Miller.

To help with reopening, Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District delivered "Back in Business Kits" to stores like Miller's. The kits include hand sanitizer, masks, rubber gloves and tape for indicating social distancing.

Qin Liu, owner of Ku Cha House of Tea, already places the tape markings on the floor of his business.

"When people come in, the first sentence to come out of their mouth is, 'It smells so great!'" said Liu, who sells mostly loose leaf teas.

It's tough to smell with a mask over your nose. Sampling the tea is out of the question. Smell and taste did much of selling for Ku Cha House of Tea, now customers can only shop with their eyes.

"We're not going to do tea tasting, unfortunately. We have sample jars for customers to smell the tea, but we threw away all the samples. We love people to be able to experience the tea, but that experience isn't going to happen for a while," said Liu.

Dining rooms at restaurants, bars and gyms in Denver are will remain closed until further notice.