Malls Open In New Hampshire With Small Number Of Shoppers

NASHUA, NH — Malls owned by Simon Properties — the Merrimack Premium Outlets, Pheasant Lane Mall, The Mall at Rockingham Park, and The Mall of New Hampshire — opened Monday as part of the reopening plan for the state of New Hampshire.

The malls have been closed for more than a month due to the stay-at-home order which forced nonessential businesses to close in the wake of a the new coronavirus.

Only a handful of people were at the door waiting for the Pheasant Lane Mall to open at 11 a.m.

A concern many had expressed was the amount of people that would be coming from out of state.

It didn't appear to be a large influx of customers from Massachusetts.

At the main entrance of the Pheasant Lane Mall the parking lot there was 23 cars with New Hampshire plates and 14 with Mass. plates. The mall is on the border and generally has a large Massachusetts customer base.

Inside the mall, there was a large percentage of the stores still closed for business. Some gave dates they would reopen and others directed people to their websites for future details on opening.

The people entering were split 50/50 on wearing masks. The United Way was on hand at the mall handing out masks for those who wanted them.

At the Merrimack Premium Outlet mall customers arrived in small numbers, and the parking lot was empty. Benches throughout the mall were taped off with yellow tape to prevent more than one person to use the bench at a time.

Simon Mall had been in contact with Gov. Chris Sununu in late April informing him of what the company planned on doing to protect its customers and employees. CEO David Simon outlined some of the protocols in a letter from April 29. Sununu responded to Simon on May 8.

On Monday, John Rulli, a president of Simon, said the health, safety and well-being of those who shop at the malls would "always be our highest priority" and that the company had developed "a thorough and detailed set of protocols highlighting the exceptional measures we’ve implemented to safeguard shoppers, retailers and employees as we reopen," according to a press statement.

"We also recognize that individuals and families in our communities are suffering significant hardship as a result of both COVID-19 and the economic shutdown," Rulli added, "and we believe that reopening our properties will not only help people get back to work during these challenging times, but also enable us to use our properties to further support charitable initiatives."

The Steeplegate Mall in Concord, according to a spokeswoman, would also be opening soon, but she didn't have specifics on when the mall would reopen and which stores would be open at press time.

©Jeffrey Hastings www.frameofmindphoto.com/news

Tony Schinella contributed to this report.