Sacramento Boutique Stores Offering Private Shopping Experience
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — If you ever dreamed of shopping in a store all to by yourself, now is the time. Now that the county has permission to reopen more businesses, shopping at Sacramento boutiques will look more like having your very own team of stylists.
"As opposed to it being a personal stylist appointment, now it is a personal shop," said Shane Twilla, Co-Owner of Identity Boutique.
Clothes and cleaning supplies is what your next shopping spree might look like with a tailored experience just for you.
"You're here by yourself, we lock the door. It's very safe, it's very clean. We stay six feet apart or more. We have all the wipes, all the masks, all the gloves," he said.
Twilla has already opened his store to customers on an appointment-base only. Customers select a designated time to come in, along with the amount of time they want to shop and book an appointment. He said customers will be allowed to come with potentially one guest as well. As for the items that customers don't decide to buy, they are set aside.
"We set those clothes aside, wipe down all the hangers and the doorknobs, everything that they touch in the room," he explained. "We clean and sanitize everything before and after they leave. We have gloves, masks, wipes, sanitizer, and we steam the clothes," Twilla said.
READ ALSO: Sacramento County Allows Restaurants To Reopen for Dine-in Customers Starting Friday
Masks will be provided but not mandatory to enter the store. Before the clothes go back on the rack, they are steamed and disinfected with spray.
It's a trend that's catching on at Heart Clothing Boutique on Capitol Ave in Midtown.
"When you are putting something on your body there is some room for anything to transfer over. So, I just want my customers to be comfortable. They are coming into a space where we are taking those extra steps to protect them and protect ourselves," said the owner of Heart Clothing Boutique, Vanessa Lopez.
Aside from steaming clothes, Lopez plans to reopen June 1st also by appointment only and take an hour in-between each customer to sanitize. Lopez estimates she will only be allowed to help around four customers a day.
"It is going to be a lot of work for myself and whoever is working my store because we are going to have to be pretty vigilant about what people are touching, what has been contaminated," she explained.
READ ALSO: Nevada County Casino Ordered To Shut Down After Reopening For Card Games
Lopez will be wearing a mask and may ask her clients to do the same.
"We have to adjust to a new normal and it is so scary because we don't know, nobody knows. We are only doing what we know is best for ourselves," she said.
Bigger stores like Nordstrom are taking similar measures. Stores throughout their company will remove clothes that have been tried on and returned off the sales floor for a period of time.
As for boutiques like Identity, Twilla said he wants customers to know they are in good hands.
"We do not take this situation lightly and we just want our guests to know that when they come here, they are in a safe space," said Twilla.
Identity Boutique has plans to slowly reopen by letting around 6-10 customers at a time in their DOCO location in the future. They still plan to keep some of their hours appointment-only for customers. Identity Boutique's second location at the Ice Blocks shopping center will be closed until further notice.
According, to Twilla he is waiting for more direction from the state and county before fully reopening.
