The biggest mall and many of the biggest retail names were not open Monday, May 4, when businesses were given the green light to allow customers back inside.

But small businesses across Memphis, Shelby County and the six surrounding suburbs that started Phase 1 of the Back to Business plan were elated to get back at it, even though it was a quiet first day after the coronavirus shutdown.

Government officials announced last week that they would allow many non-essential businesses to reopen Monday. 

Some stores didn’t even bother to get off to an early start, choosing to remain closed for now.

Anthropologie and Athleta in the Shops of Saddle Creek appeared Sunday afternoon to be preparing for reopening, but remained closed Monday.

Monday morning, employees were inside Anthropologie although the store was still closed. An employee was also inside Free People preparing to reopen, but none of the stores at Saddle Creek North appeared to immediately welcome customers.

Fewer than 20 vehicles were in the parking lot northeast of Poplar Avenue and West Farmington. Two were lawn care vehicles.

Fitness centers scramble to reopen with new normal

Saddle Creek South had about 15 cars. Stores were closed. Rise Biscuits & Donuts and Stoney River were still advertising their to-go options. Raw Girls’ pop-up has remained open for customers to pick up juices and snacks. Altar’d State will reopen Tuesday with adjusted hours from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Germantown Municipal School District board member Amy Eoff, her mother and daughter ventured to Saddle Creek to find the closed stores. They were each wearing a mask.

Eoff said she was out “just doing (her) part to restart the economy.”

901 Fitness in Raleigh had a soft reopening Monday, and owner J. Randall said he planned to wait awhile before sending an email blast to notify 3,000 people that it was open for business again.

“We’ve had some diehards already,” Randall said. “I’ve had about 40 workouts since I opened at 4 a.m. (Monday). Everybody in here had masks on, they were wiping down equipment, and staying apart.”

Wolfchase area

Despite the opportunity to reopen, retail stores inside Wolfchase Galleria remained closed Monday. Only mall restaurants providing carryout orders conducted business.

A spokesperson for the mall said they were unable to comment on future reopening dates or decisions at this time.

Several other national shopping outlets in the surrounding area also kept their doors closed, including T.J. Maxx, Old Navy and Men’s Warehouse.

While the foot traffic around the shopping complexes was generally limited, a few stores did take the chance to invite customers back.

Kelly Dennis, the owner of Merle Norman Cosmetics, welcomed her first customer in over a month almost immediately after the Bartlett location opened.

“It’s been six weeks and we’ve been just barely hanging in there,” Dennis said. “We’ve had a lot of calls asking if we are open, but this morning we had just one customer who was here before we opened.”

Slow business is unfortunately their expectation for the next few weeks.

“I think it will be slower than what we are used to this time of year,” Dennis said. “We are predominantly a women’s business because we sell cosmetics products, and Mother’s Day is usually a big time of year for us. May is usually a pretty big month. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Michael’s, an arts and crafts store, also allowed in-store shopping for the first time since March. There was a line of 10-plus customers outside the door as soon as it opened at 11 a.m.

Only a handful of customers were allowed inside at a time.

“I’m really glad (it reopened),” said Nancy Young, a Michael’s customer picking up materials for a graduation party. “I think it’s time to open. I think if we are very careful, and very responsible, then it’s time to open. There are too many people in bad shape.”

Young avoided the line by arriving right when the store opened.

“I think so far, where I’ve been, it’s been normal (foot traffic),” Young said. “Except for here, because this is the first day that they’ve been open.”

Southland Mall

At Southland Mall in Whitehaven, doors opened at 11 a.m.

Shoppers were greeted by huge signs on the doors at the entrance explaining shopping in the age of COVID-19. 

The reopening protocol laid out how many are allowed in the mall and social distancing. Blue tape marked off 6 feet on the floors.

About a dozen shoppers were inside shortly after opening. 

Sandra Fagbola arrived a few minutes before the stores opened to pick up clothes she had on layaway at Cititrends. 

She had on her mask and used a plastic glove on the double doors at the mall entrance. 

“I’m a little nervous, so I came early to avoid a lot of people and to get my stuff and leave,” Fagbola said. 

Keisha Patterson arrived with five children and two other adults. 

She was looking for new shoes for her children and jewelry repair for herself. Patterson said she wasn’t afraid of catching the virus.

“I stay prayed up,” Patterson said. “Jesus will take care of me and mine.”

Norman Johns, the general manager at Southland, said there are 54 to 56 stores in the mall and all but one said they would reopen Monday. 

“Once the public realizes we’re open, I’m expecting the place to get hit with customers,” Johns said. 

At the nearby South Plaza Shopping Center off Elvis Presley Boulevard, stores like the Nike Clearance store were closed Monday. 

In the same shopping plaza, Umar Diallo was busy putting out mannequins in front of Diallo’s, his men’s and women’s clothing store that he has run for 10 years. 

“I must admit, I am really scared to reopen with the virus and we have no way to fight it,” Diallo said. 

He said he reopened anyway, however, because “my family has got to eat and we applied but have not gotten one of the small business loans. So here we are.”

Diallo who is from West Africa, said he bought masks for customers to wear inside his store but was not making it mandatory. 

“If they want this mask, then we have it for them,” he said.

Birthday shopping

At the City Gear clothing store on Winchester in Hickory Hill, a line of about 10 people stood on blue tape waiting their turn to go inside. 

The store was allowing eight people inside at one time. 

A few people who stood in line wore masks, but Jeff Grace and his two roommates said they didn’t feel like they needed one. 

“I work at a convenience store, so this is no different for me,” Grace said.

The roommates came to celebrate Grace’s 29th birthday with shopping. 

“I’m not going to live my life in fear,” said Courtney Gillespie, one of the three roommates. “There’s a thin line between faith and foolishness, and I am leaning on my faith and not fear.” 

Even though restaurants could open at 50% capacity with dine-in customers, Southern Hands restaurant in Hickory Hill continued with its to-go orders Monday. 

A steady stream of customers came and went as they picked up call-in orders or placed their orders on the spot. That will be the only option customers have at the Southern cuisine restaurant moving forward.

A sign on the door of Southern Hands read: “Due to the Covid-19 rule & regulations to opening, all Southern Hands locations will remain strictly to go through all 3 phases. We will continue to practice social distancing, only allowing 10-15 people in the restaurant at any time. We will continue to update you as we get more information. We greatly appreciate your patronage, patience and understanding as we attempt to get back to some form of normalcy. Your Southern Hands family.”

Collierville Square opens briskly

While most stores were shuttered at Carriage Crossing, small businesses on Collierville Square were eager to welcome customers.

Dyer’s Cafe reopened its dining room. C J Lilly & Company workers were busy putting together bouquets for Mother’s Day.

Dee Larue Cox, owner of Dee Larue Designs, had been “fairly busy” Monday. She some had window shopped, but there were some purchases as well.

”We have a lot of walk-in customers, but our main business is interior design.”

The shop closed March 19th and many in the square closed by the end of March.

Larue said it was “great to be back.”

While the store was closed, they did curbside and delivery.

Watty Brooks Hall, owner of the Brooks Collection, was wearing a mask along with her two employees. May usually kicks off her second-busiest month behind Christmas. Normally her store is filled with customers buying gifts for Mother’s Day and graduation.

”People were chomping at the bit to get out,” she said as residents wandered throughout the square.

While Monday was busy, she noted business is not normal.

”It’s so totally different,” she noted. “We’re happy to hear the cash register ring.”

Usually Collierville’s Fair on the Square is the first weekend of May, which brings revenue into the small shops. But that event was canceled.

Hall also told her workers if there were “any reservations” about returning to work, they should not return. She had hand sanitizer at a “safety station” up front.

Hall said the change of scenery was nice and she knows business will pick up in the following days.

Suds flowing again

Meanwhile, Car Wash USA at 1675 Union was doing a steady business Monday morning after reopening with fully automated services Sunday, May 3.

“We’ve been very busy. Everybody’s getting out to get their cars cleaned. They’ve been in the house too long,” said Christian Randle.

The location near Belvedere and Union did 575 cars on Sunday, a bit more than a typical Sunday, and had logged about 150 vehicles by 11 a.m. Monday, Randle said.

Randle and another employee were overseeing cars moving into the queue for washing. He said it’s a bit different than how the car wash usually operates, with “no contact, no towels, no vacuuming, no spray wash.”

Down the street, Mr. Pride Car Wash at 2071 Union was closed, and Relax & Shine Executive Hand Car Wash at 1362 Union was closed.

The city’s Back to Business framework allowed full automated car washes to reopen in Phase 1. The framework said “ancillary functions like vacuum stations must be closed. Will evaluate specific restrictions developed in partnership with the industry.”

Artists stock up again at venerable Art Center

It was hard to tell because of his green-and-blue plaid facemask, but Art Center co-owner Tom Wilson must have smiled a time or two Monday morning, May 4.

A “herd” of artists – his description – returned to the store at 1636 Union to replenish the art supplies they had been depleting since the Art Center closed six weeks ago for social distancing.

As one of the businesses deemed “nonessential,” the 47-year-old store was among the many in Memphis allowed to re-open in a calibrated way on Monday. The rules included the wearing of masks by employees, keeping customers six feet apart, and limiting groupings to 10 or fewer.

The Art Center offered curbside service for any customer who calls, limited the number of people who could enter, placed markers on the floor leading to the checkout counter, and used its Facebook page to ask customers to wear masks.

“All our employees wear masks and gloves. And we’re trying to maintain social distance,” said Wilson, who managed to keep paying his eight full-time employees during the store’s shutdown.

The store, co-owned by Susan Steele, will even offer complimentary masks to bare-faced customers once the shipment it ordered finally arrives.

If Wilson was smiling behind his mask Monday morning, his happiness had as much to do with renewing old relationships as restoring revenues.

“We’re lucky, we have great, great customers,” Wilson said. “The people who come into our store are very creative. It’s a lot of old friendships …

“We have a thing where we’re selling folks material they use to be creative. And that’s kinda fun.”

Elvis ice cubes

“Fun” would aptly describe a few of the new stock items Boulevard Souvenirs received while it was closed.

“They came out with Elvis ice-cube trays,” said Renae Roberts, who owns the Elvis souvenir shop at 676 Marshall with her husband, Ricky. “We got Elvis cookie-cutters and oven mitts, and a lunchbox.”

Early in the year, Boulevard Souvenir moved from near Graceland in Whitehaven to near Sun Studio in the Edge District.

The store had not finished unpacking all its boxes when Mayor Jim Strickland’s executive order forced all nonessential businesses to close.

Enforcing social distancing was not hard at Boulevard Souvenirs on Monday morning. Sun Studio remained closed, so there were no crowds of tourists to wander down to the souvenir shop while waiting for their tour to start.

“We didn’t really figure we would have a lot of people in here,” Roberts said. “We have masks here if people come in and don’t have a mask to put on. We have hand sanitizer. We got spray to disinfect the store.”

She and her husband were eager to re-open the store on Monday.

“I think if you are constantly afraid you are just going to be in your house,” she said. “And if we don’t get back to work, we’re going to have a worse problem. Financially, America has got to come back.”

Waiting on Phase I results

Premier Flowers could have opened its front door at 10 S. Second on Monday, but owner Colby Midgett kept it locked while she and her employees filled online and phone orders.

“I would have to see a decline in cases,” Midgett said of her personal threshold for fully reopening. “A substantial decline.”

The flower shop is small at just over 1,000 square feet. Considering the employees, the delivery workers and customers, Midgett does not feel she has enough space to ensure everyone stays six feet apart.

She and her four employees made a “team decision” to delay reopening until they see how Phase I of the city’s incremental reopening plan works.

“We’ll see how the numbers look and I’ll make a decision from there,” Midgett said.

Bartlett business owners happy to be back

TNC Sports at 2829 Bartlett Blvd. inside the Malco Plaza reopened to the public Monday morning and saw a good number of customers early in the day.

“It feels great to reopen,” said TNC assistant manager Tammy Connolly. “I think many people are leery about getting out and don’t know what to expect, but the world that we knew has changed.”

The shop, which opened 25 years ago, specializes in college and pro sports memorabilia and apparel, including sports cards. In response to the pandemic, it began making cloth facial masks, many of them sports-themed, right in the middle of the store on sewing machines.

“We’ve been making masks this whole time. We’ve made more than 1,000,” Connolly said. “It’s really helped our business. We advertised on Facebook, and the week we started doing masks our curbside business was crazy.”

Based on its square footage, TNC is limited to having only 10 people inside at any one time for right now, and all staff members wears masks.

“We turned the ‘Open’ sign on this morning, and I’m so excited about it,” said Pat’s Prints & Custom Framing owner Henry Franks, who runs the framing, print and mirror shop at 2750 Bartlett Blvd. in the Normandie Plaza with his wife, Betsy.

He hoped to see a few customers Monday, with numbers picking up as the week goes on.

The store opened more than 30 years ago and had been closed since mid-March except for pickups and drop-offs. The Franks applied for small business stimulus assistance but have not received it yet.

“I’d say sales are down probably about 95%,” Franks said. “I’m just hoping and praying that we do a little bit of business. Right now is the time that people are redoing their houses and fixing up their yards, and on rainy days they’ll come in here and work on the inside. So, a little shower today wouldn’t hurt us at all.”

He expects to see a bunch of businesses close down for good because of the pandemic.

Under the new guidelines, Pat’s Prints must not have more than 10 people in the store at a time. And although he has the equipment to temperature check customers, he does not plan to do so unless they look sick.

“I have a rectal thermometer sitting here waiting for them,” Franks joked.

The rEvolve Guitars & Music Shop at 5832 Stage Road in the Bartlett Station area will reopen to the public on Tuesday. The store has been filling curbside pickups and online orders during the shutdown. Upon reopening, it will limit capacity to just four customers.

“I’ll be glad to get back to having the doors open where people can come in,” said owner Geoff Albert, who opened rEvolve in 2012.

Because it’s an instrument store, customers were allowed to take instruments off the walls to try them out.

“We now have signs asking them not to do that,” Albert said. “We will get them down if they need to test something, and when they’re done, we will clean that instrument. We’re also asking customers to please wear a face covering of some sort while they’re in the store.”

Private music lessons have been suspended through Phase 1 of the reopening.

“We won’t be doing private lessons until we’re a little bit more sure of where we are with things,” Albert said. “I just don’t think it’s the right thing to do at this point.”

The shop will operate shorter hours through May or Phase 1 of the Back-to-Business plan, whichever is longer, and it will keep a curbside option for those that prefer it. Elderly or at-risk customers will be able to come inside a half-hour before opening time, so they can shop privately.

Laurelwood largely quiet

Many businesses inside the city’s centrally located Laurelwood Shopping Center reopened their doors Monday, but the biggest stores remained closed.

It only made sense that the parking lot was much more empty than usual.

Nordstrom Rack, LA Fitness, Talbot’s and Chico’s all opted not to reopen. Novel is still only offering curbside pickup. Cotton Tails and Sachi, a connected children’s clothing store and fashion boutique, plans to open by appointment only beginning May 11.

“Who doesn’t want to have both stores all to themselves for an exclusive shopping experience?” the sign on the door reads.

But that experience is possible almost everywhere inside the shopping center at the moment. There were no crowds Monday, even with competition from Oak Court Mall across the street still closed. It was rare to find two cars parked next to each other.

James Davis, Sissy’s Log Cabin, Orvis, Kittie Kyle and J. McLaughlin all opened back up, among others. Most stores have mask requirements in order to enter, and some even placed hand sanitizer and tissues on chairs that propped open the front door to entice customers in.

Joseph, a store for designer shoes, handbags, jewelry and beauty products, also noted that in addition to masks and hand sanitizer, customers are subject to temperature checks.

But that requires customers first, and the hope is that the ‘Welcome back!’ signs will do a lot more welcoming soon.

Staff reporters Abigail Warren, Yolanda Jones, Wayne Risher, Tom Bailey and Drew Hill and freelancer Michael Waddell contributed to this story.