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Starting Saturday, new corona restrictions apply to department stores in accordance with the anti-pandemic law that went into effect earlier.
A maximum of 500 people can now stay at the same time in the country’s department stores, something that affects Gekås in Ullared, among other places.
Before the weekend, Patrik Levin, CEO of Gekås, came out and asked customers to avoid visiting department stores on Saturdays and Sundays, and instead wait with their purchases on weekdays when there are fewer visitors.
– Try to avoid coming on weekends. Try to plan your visit and come during the weeks when we have significantly fewer visitors so that you have a reasonable chance of entering the department stores. If you come on Saturday, there is a risk that you will have to queue all day and not even enter, said Patrik Levin at the time.
Patrik Levin, the new CEO of Gekås, urged visitors not to come to Gekås this weekend.
Photo: Press image
Gekås trick: the wall separates the department stores
In order to receive more visitors and reduce the risk of queues, despite the restrictions, Gekås has found an ingenious solution.
In the blink of an eye, a large wall has been built that divides the premises into two large warehouses, which can then accommodate a total of 1,000 customers at the same time.
They are called “yellow department stores” and “blue department stores” and have separate entrances and exits and their own pay lines. It is not possible to move between the facilities.
Construction of the giant wall began early Friday morning and was put up late at night.
Long queues in the afternoon
On Saturday, the queues gradually filled up outside the department store. Special congestion guards were in place to hand out flyers and report on crown rules and the new department store division.
Ulrika Hellsviken and Cecilia Albrektsson, who drove Ullared from Höganäs, were two of all the visitors who had their sights set on shopping.
– We had completely missed this new rule with a maximum of 500, but now we are here. Anyway, it goes pretty fast in the queue, they said.
Will you be able to come and buy now before the department stores close?
– We can hope so, some in any case, even if you have to go out and then go to the next department / department store again.
Gekås CEO on site at 05am
Patrik Levin explained shortly before 4.30pm on Saturday that he was satisfied with how the arrangements were working.
– Under the conditions, it went as well as I expected. If we had not divided the department stores into two parts, today we would have had several kilometers of queues, he says.
– This was the only way to guarantee a safe shopping experience for the customers who chose to come here.
Patrik Levin himself was already in Gekås at 05 o’clock on Saturday morning, an hour before the department stores opened.
– I was here with almost my entire management team. We distribute informational brochures and try to help guests. It’s hard to get a lot of extra staff from Friday to Saturday, so we all had to go, he says.
