Following the long weekend, 60 stores were open at Orchard Park. Today the number of stores open increased to 73 as the public begins a cautious return to mall shopping.
Young people were seen entering Orchard Park Mall with a free and breezy attitude about the pandemic, while seniors appeared to be a little more cautious about it.
"It should be okay," said one young man in the sparsely occupied parking lot at mall opening time. "I'm not too worried about it." Minutes later a senior made her approach. "I'm just being a little cautious," she said.
Close to half of the stores are now open. Austin Thiemann was behind the counter at Foursight.
"It's been pretty busy surprisingly, " he said. "We were kind of expecting it to be a little bit slower."
Nash Madrigga was at the cash register at Loadza Toyz. "It's been pretty busy actually,", said Madrigga, who added that they're selling out of board games and puzzles.
But as people start to return to the mall, its just a new phase of what's been a hard time for retailers.
Sangeeta Spolia has been watching the crowds trickling past Torino Clothing. "They're still like, checking it out, not coming in for shopping," she said.
Orchard Park has an updated list of which stores are open that you can find on their website.
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