FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE) — Black Friday shopping is a tradition for some, and the pandemic didn’t stop many from waking up early and waiting in line.
But this year, shopping came with capacity limits inside the store.
“In the store, we now have that capacity of 25%. That means that we can only allow 27 customers to come in,” said Sarah Hartman, the Bath and Body Works store manager in River Park. “Twenty-seven allows us to kind of control where people are at.”
Fresno County moved back into the purple tier on Nov. 16, meaning more capacity limits had to be implemented this Black Friday.
“It was just a lot of in-the-moment changes,” Hartman said.
Social distancing signs on the floor encouraged people to stay apart, but that didn’t always happen. Some lines to get into the stores had one customer next to the other.
Hand sanitizer signs are also placed throughout the River Park Shopping Center.
“We are cleaning and keeping everything as clean as possible, so that the experience that everybody has here is positive,” said Tracy Kashian, the vice president of marketing and and public relations at River Park.
Although the pandemic didn’t stop some from shopping, a lot looked and felt different.
“Everyone has to be spaced out, more cautious on how we touch everything,” said Adriana Muñoz, Madera resident.
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