BUFORD — Simon Property Group, the owner of Georgia’s largest mall, the Mall of Georgia announced that they will begin reopening 49 of their properties since the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to close their malls in March. Simon Property Group is the largest mall operator in the US.
The openings will take place in states that have taken steps to begin reopening their economies. Georgia’s shelter-in-place order ends on April 30, businesses will be able to reopen on May 1 provided that they follow a set of guidelines to maintain social distancing.
Simon-operated malls such as the Mall of Georgia will reopen with reduced hours. They will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Simon Property Group encourages shoppers to wear masks while at their malls and plan on giving masks and hand sanitizer packets away to shoppers who ask for them. They plan on reducing the seating available in the food courts to encourage social distancing. These are just a few of the measures that the Simon Group plans on implementing in their properties once they reopen.
On May 1, 2020, the Simon Property Group will reopen seven shopping malls in Georgia after being closed since March 18. The malls were originally only supposed to be closed for 12 days but were forced to remain closed much longer after the novel coronavirus pandemic spread like wildfire across the country forcing mandatory shelter-in-place orders.
The malls operated by the Simon Property Group in Georgia that will reopen on Friday, May 1 are:
Calhoun Outlet Marketplace, 455 Belwood Rd, Calhoun, Georgia
Lenox Square, 3393 Peachtree Rd NE, Atlanta, Georgia
Mall of Georgia/Village Shops, 3333 Buford Dr, Buford, Georgia
North Georgia Premium Outlets, 800 GA-400 S, Dawsonville, Georgia
Phipps Plaza, 3500 Peachtree Rd NE, Atlanta, Georgia
Sugarloaf Mills, 5900 Sugarloaf Pkwy, Lawrenceville, Georgia
Town Center at Cobb, 400 Ernest W Barrett Pkwy NW, Kennesaw, Georgia
Since many retailers laid off or furloughed workers when they were forced to close up shop in March, getting their workers back in time to reopen will be a bit of a challenge. Shoppers might find that some retailers will remain closed for the time being until they can get their workforce back and ready to go. It also remains to be seen if shoppers will feel safe returning to these shopping malls yet.
— Staff Reports
