Re-initiation of retail trade was officially announced by the Greek Prime Minister and the competent government staff, starting from Monday 18th January. Retail shops, including outlet stores and malls, will operate under certain specific conditions, which are explained below.
The curfew from 9pm until 5am remains in force, as well as the obligation of citizens to send SMS codes to the number 13033 in order to justify movement. Along with the retail trade, some sectors of provisions of services will reopen as well, like hair and beauty salons.
Especially with regard to retail trade operation, the information given to publicity until now is the following:
A) Retail shops in “red-flagged” areas (Regional Prefectures of: West Attica, Lesvos, Viotia, Kalymnos, Chalkidiki, Argolis, Rodopi) will reopen by using the “click – away” method, which is the way that was also introduced throughout Greece before Christmas and it works as follows: clients shall have booked their appointment before visiting the store of their choice and once they get to the store, strictly within the hours written in the message the receive by the store, they may shop the selected product, without trying it on and without having access into the store, whereas payment takes place almost exclusively by credit card/via e-banking service.
B) Retail shops in the rest of the country will re-operate without the need to book an appointment in order to access the store. The shoppers will be free to finalize their shopping in two (2) hours by the time they leave their home for shopping (if the way of justifying their movement is sending an SMS code, said two-hour limit starts counting from the moment they receive the SMS approval).
The timeline of operation for the stores can be 7am until 8pm, given that the curfew starts at 9pm and it goes until 5am. On Sunday 24th February stores may operate upon the management’s discretion.
Re-operation of retail trade comes with the obligation to abide by some safety measures. More specifically, a distance of minimum 2m shall be kept between clients while the maximum capacity in stores is set as follows:
Stores up to 100sq.m. > maximum 4 persons
Stores of more than 100 sq.m. > 1 person for every 25 sq.m.
For Malls and Big Outlets > 1 person for every 25 sq.m. of main space.
In case of breach of the safety measures and operation prerequisites, fines may be imposed, which will be 50% higher than the ones that were legislated latest.
