Enticing Black Friday shoppers while managing crowds during the pandemic

BLACK FRIDAY KICKS OFF THESTART OF THE HOLIDAY SHOPPINGSEASON.

WMAR 2 NEWS' MARKROPER IS INSIDE THE COLUMBIAMALL WITH HOW STORES AREADAPTING.STORES NEED A LOT OF FOOTTRAFFIC TO MAKE MONEY BUT MANYPEOPLE ARE TRYING TO AVOIDCROWDS DURING THE PANDEMIC.

SO-- WE'RE HERE AT THE MALL INCOLUMBIA TO FIND OUT WHAT'SBEING DONE TO SATISFY BOTHSHOPPERS AND STORE MANAGERS.BLACK FRIDAY BARGAIN HUNTERSARE USED TO SHOPPING JAM-PACKED MALLS TO CATCH THE BESTDEALS --BUT LONG LINESANDLARGE CROWDS WON'T BE PAOF THE EXPERIENCE THIS YEAR.for black friday in 2020, wedo have a government mandateto keep our capacity at 50percent, we have live traffictrackers, that I can tell atany time how many people arewithin the interior of themall.

THE MALL IN COLUMBIASENIOR GENERAL MANAGER BARBNICKLAS EXPLAINS COVID SAFETYPROTOCOLS BEGIN THE MOMENTSHOPPERS STEP INTO THE MALL --WITH DOORS MARKED TO CONTROLTHE DIRECTION OF FOOT TRAFFICWe have 31 hand sanitizersthroughout the center,including at every entrance,we have social distancingmeasures and communicationsthroughout the mall THEPANDEMIC CHANGED THE WAYPEOPLE SHOP.

AND ONE SERVICEDEVELOPED DURING THE EMERGENCYSHUTDOWN IN THE SPRING WILLCONTINUE TO BE USED THROUGHOUTHE HOLIDAY SEASON.

Many ofthe stores that were not open,actually were serving theircustomers via the curbsidepickup once we reopened, theycontinued to do that, and thatis a very popular option withour customers for the holidayseason, we are going to beexpanding to three curbsiareas WHICH HELPS RETAILERSMAINTAIN SALES AND ALLOWSCUSTOMERS TO KEEP THEIR SOCIADISTANCE.

You can orderonline, you can call thestore, and once you come andyou park in a space, you thencall the store, and you givethe number of your space andthe employees from the storewill bring your purchase oto your car BUT IT'S NOT THEONLY WAY SHOPPERS CAN SKIP THELINES -- STAY SAFE -- AAVOID A CROWD.

We haverecently launched somethingthat we call Spot Holder, andthis is a reservation andqueuing technology that allowsour shoppers to put themselveson a waitlist to get inside astore, rather than stand inline RETAILERS LOOKING TO TUA PROFIT AND SHOPPERS LOOKINGFOR DEALS AREN'T THE ONLY ONESCOUNTING ON RINGING UP SALESTHIS BLACK FRIDAY.

We employnearly 4100 people from thecommunity, that are in ourretail stores, our vendors,and our contractors.additionally, we support ourschools, Columbia, the county,and the state of Maryland withannual taxes of nearly $50million from our sales tax,our payroll tax, and our realestate tax AND NOW -- WITHPROTOCOLS IN PLACE -- IT'TIME TO SHOP.

We will open ourdoors at 7 o'clock, and we arevery much looking forward tooffering much of the same kindof wonderful experiences thatwe've offered in the past, butin a safe and healthyenvironment ANOTHER CHANGE TOTHE BLACK FRIDAY EXPERIENCE ISGETTING YOUR PICTURE TAKENWITH SANTA.

EVERYONE INCLUDINGSANTA WILL BE WEARING A MASK--WHILE KEEPING THEIR SIX FEETOF SOCIAL DISTANCING FROMJOLLY OLD SAINT NICK.

INCOLUMBIA MARK ROPER WMAR 2NEWS.TonightMostly cloudy, with alow around 38.

South windaround 5 mph becoming c