Coronavirus safety measures put in place at intuWatford

People in the town can expect a change to their shopping experience in the centre from tomorrow – when non-essential shops have been given the green light to reopen.

Vicki Costello, general manager at intuWatford, has been working hard with staff to ensure the shopping centre can reopen safely to shoppers, by introducing new measures to ensure people can keep two metres apart and maintain good hygiene.

We were allowed to go and see how the centre has transformed and get a taster for what shoppers can expect when they return.

Queueing

When shoppers arrive at intuWatford, they will not be allowed to go straight inside and instead will be asked to queue outside while keeping a social distance.

There will be a choice of three entrances where people can wait to go inside – one will be at the main entrance at the extension on the lower level, while the other two will be in Queens Road to either get into the north or south side of the shopping centre.

While people are queueing, staff will walk up and down the queue, telling people what shops are open and the measures in place inside the building.

Shoppers will be counted when they go in to allow staff to keep an eye on how many people are inside the centre.

Once this starts to reach capacity, people will be held outside. But when shoppers start to leave the centre, those waiting will be allowed to go inside.

intu recently did a poll which found customers wanted 10-minute queue times, although Mrs Costello warned that people may have “some time” to wait before going inside.

But she said that staff will do all they can to get people inside the shopping centre as soon as possible.

What can you expect once inside

Once inside the shopping centre, people will see a hand sanitisation stand to use.

There will also be signs telling people to maintain social distancing and good hygiene in the centre.

Signs and hand sanitiser stations will be at the centre (photo intu)

People will also notice new marked routes on the floor, which have been designed to act as a one-way system.

This means that people will only be able to walk one way through the centre, like driving on the left side of the road.

The markings have also been spaced away from each other to allow people to socially distance.

Markings have been placed on the ground for people to follow

However, to avoid people having to walk all around the centre to get to a certain store, ‘safe crossings’ are being put in areas across the shopping centre.

For anyone wanting to use the escalator to get to another floor, there will be signs encouraging people to keep a safe distance from each other. It is recommended that people keep at least four steps apart.

(photo intu)

There will also be hand sanitising stations based all around the centre for people wanting to use them, while all seating has been removed to allow for more space for movement.

Toilets

Toilets will be open in the shopping centre, but limited amounts of people will be able to go inside at one time.

This is to ensure there will space in the toilets to allow people to social distance.

Single disabled toilets will still be open as well as changing facilities in the shopping centre.

How many shops in the centre are reopening and what measures are in place for them

intuWatford has urged people to check its website to see what stores are reopening, but on Monday around 40 will be open to customers.

However, it is expected that people will have to queue to get into stores due to limited amounts of people being allowed in a shop at one time.

Although it is each shop’s responsibility to make sure social distancing measures are in place, intu has helped by placing grey markers outside stores to help people queue safely.

Grey markers have been places outside some shops

Measures that have been introduced into shops to allow for social distancing include the removal of merchandising units to allow for more space, as well as some stores only reopening every other till. 

As time goes by, Mrs Costello said she expects more stores to open, saying that they must be ready themselves in order to reopen.

Parking

For anyone wanting to park at the centre, only two car parks - Charter and Kings - will be open for drivers to use. Queens and Palace car parks will remain closed to help with social distancing.

Signs are set to be put up in the car parks to help people stay two meters away from one another. 

Once people park in the centre, they will be directed down one way to the centre – and when drivers return to their car they will be directed another way.

Parking will not be free at the centre, and from Monday normal tariffs will apply to drivers who use them.

As more shops reopen, intu may reopen its other car parks if more parking space is needed.

How does it feel to reopen to shoppers?

Ahead of intuWatford reopening on June 15, Mrs Costello said she was “excited” for the shopping centre to return.

She said: “It’s great to see people again, but we understand they might be anxious about leaving their homes and going back to what is normally a crowded place.

“What I want to emphasise to customers and to people visiting us is that the experience they are used to won’t be quite the same.

“People should expect a different experience and we will do all we can to help them through it.”

Vicki Costello says she is "excited" for intuWatford to reopen

She continued: “I’m sure that the likes of big stores like Primark and Apple being reopen will encourage people to come back to the shopping centre, but in what capacity I don’t know.

“Who knows if it will be packed on Monday, but we are ready for it. We are prepared and my number one priority is to keep people safe.”

Speaking about shops reopening, Mrs Costello said: “We are doing everything we can to help ensure shops are safe to customers.

“As soon as shops give us the nod that they would like to reopen we’re doing everything we can to help them with queueing and help them be ready to open. In stores that are reopening there is a lot of protection in them.

“It is in our interest to get them open and we want them to reopen.”