Dubai: Malls in Dubai will maintain current opening hours of 12pm to 10pm, while the refund and return of goods and use of fitting rooms are allowed from Tuesday, according to the Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management.
While maintaining all previous preventive measures in shopping malls and retail outlets, the updates allow the refund and return of goods and use of fitting rooms with the condition that strict precautionary conditions aimed at ensuring the safety of customers be observed.
Even staff at the stores will retain the 30 per cent limit. Currently, the working hours are from 12pm to 10pm.
But wholesalers and retailers will once again be able to offer promotions post Ramadan.
That means, malls and other leisure destinations will have to “maintain occupancy ceiling of 30 per cent of common areas and gross leasable areas,” the directive from Dubai Department of Economic Development says.
And the restrictions on children under 12 years (and children of any age group with medical conditions) and those above 60 years remain in place.
Elevators can only be used by those special conditions.
“Getting consumers back into stores will still be a challenge,” said the brand manager for a high-end fashion label. “Over the last 14 days, store traffic at all times have been well below 30 per cent.
“It will need the return of sales promotions to get shoppers back.” (Currently, retailers are not allowed to offer promotions at stores.)
But another restriction will be removed The “No Refund/Return Policy” restriction will be removed after Ramadan - conditional to sanitization and set aside for 24 hours before being sent or used by another customer.
Extra precautions
- All changing and fitting rooms can open under the following restrictions.
- Customers must wear masks all the time.
- Each customer can try up to 5 items only in the store. Customers to spend a maximum of 10 minutes in the fitting room.
- Returned items not to be put back on the shelves or used by other customers, they must be put aside by the retailer for 24 hours.
- Continuous sterilization of the fitting rooms to be performed.
