Update: After most stores close, Vintage Faire Mall locks doors amid coronavirus
Update March 23, 8:20 a.m.: A mall spokeswoman said the only business still open inside is LensCrafters, which is allowing customers to pick up their prescriptions.
Original story: The doors were locked and barricades were up Sunday at Vintage Faire Mall, Stanislaus County’s largest indoor shopping center. The action comes in the wake of the statewide stay-at-home order issued because of the coronavirus crisis.
Sunday afternoon, the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency updated its website to report the sixth, seventh and eighth cases of people testing positive for COVID-19. A text from a spokesman said no further information on the patients was available. There have been no coronavirus-related deaths in Stanislaus County, the HSA said.
As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to close restaurants, retailers and other businesses across the Central Valley, the Modesto mall was still allowing people to enter the facility as recently as Saturday. But inside the vast majority of the stores were closed. Those include major national brands like Macy’s, J.C. Penney, Apple, Sephora, H&M, Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister Co. and Footlocker, which have shuttered all retail locations across the county due to coronavirus.
Around noon Saturday at the mall, it appeared five retail stores and two kiosks were open, not including the center’s restaurants. The rest of the shops were closed and locked down with security gates. Many had removed merchandise and mall security patrolled both inside and outside the grounds.
Those still operating were LensCrafters (by appointment only), Hairology (hair salon), Pheroni (men’s clothing store), Jenny’s (new clothing store with a “grand opening “sign), and Flip Flop Shops (shoe chain selling flip-flops and sandals). Only two kiosks appeared open, a portrait stand and a stand selling toys and games.
About a dozen people could be seen wandered through the mall Saturday, including families with children marveling at the closed stores and others milling about.
The food court restaurants were all closed, and Carl’s Jr. was the only restaurant inside the mall still open and offering takeout. The mall’s exterior restaurants had all closed their dining rooms, but were offering pickup and/or delivery including Buckhorn BBQ, Chipotle, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Buffalo Wild Wings, Chili’s, Johnny Carino’s, Stone Fire Pizza by MidiCi, Panera Bread and Mimi’s Cafe.
On Sunday, a mall security staffer contacted outside confirmed that all exterior doors were locked “at this time,” but directed further questions to mall management. Messages left for a mall spokeswoman Sunday were not immediately returned. If any businesses inside still were doing business, it must have been by appointment only, but no one answered the phone at either LensCrafters or Hairology on Sunday.
When contacted last week by The Bee, Vintage Faire management said it was working on a statement about the mall’s status in light of the global pandemic. Then Thursday evening, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered all of the state’s residents to self isolate at home except for essential tasks. Nonessential businesses were also told to close.
Since the order, Vintage Faire management has not responded to requests for comments on the mall’s operations status.
The mall’s policies on spread of COVID-19 have evolved over the past two weeks. On March 10 they issued a notice to shoppers on Vintage Faire’s website and social media accounts about its enhanced cleaning efforts. Two days later Vintage Faire canceled its planned visits with the Easter Bunny.
At the start of this week, the mall announced limited hours, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, which began March 17. Sunday, the mall’s COVID-19 page made no mention of it being closed.
In neighboring counties
According to the San Joaquin County website on Sunday, there are 34 confirmed cases there, and two deaths.
A news release from Merced County on Saturday said it has no confirmed cases. Thirty-five people have been tested, with 23 testing negative and results pending on the other 12.
Tuolumne County Public Health posted on Facebook on Saturday that it, too, has no confirmed cases. Seventy-eight people have been tested, with 63 testing negative and results pending on 15.
It noted that the numbers include only those routed through Public Health to its laboratory, not any routed through a commercial laboratory.
In its update Saturday — so not including the sixth Stanislaus case — the California Department of Public Health said there have been 1,224 cases of COVID-19 in the state, and 23 deaths.
Of the positive cases, 876 are among people ages 18 to 64. In the population 65 and olcer, there have been 321 cases. Among ages 17 and younger, there have been 19 cases. And in eight cases, age is listed as unknown.
For Stanislaus County updates, check www.schsa.org/PublicHealth/pages/corona-virus.
This story was originally published March 21, 2020 at 2:04 PM.
