NOVI, Mich. – A few Metro Detroit malls opened Thursday and foot traffic was steady.
At Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi, the opening is a work-in-progress.
When you come to the mall, they require shoppers to require a mask and there are signs all over demanding social distancing. For the most part, shoppers have been following the guidelines.
But the old-fashioned supply and demand problem cropped up and the mall is working to keep crowds from forming. Twelve Oaks Mall’s reopening is a slow roll out with many of the aisle stores -- and even the anchor stores -- remain closed.
The stores that are open are following the 10-or-fewer social distancing rules, but it’s creating a bottleneck with lines forming outside the stores.
“It’s worth it to me," said Haley Pokenos. "I just love shopping and I’m so used to shopping before all of this happened. I would go all the time.”
Twelve Oaks Mall general manager Dan Jones said the mall is looking at ways to prevent crowds.
“We don’t want accumulations of people wit in the shopping center in one spot," Jones said. "We made a visiting app available to all our tenants so that they can use that. If the store is too busy, they can notify you to come back in 20 minutes.”