Gloves, masks, leggings and a steamer to go shopping in Madrid | Madrid

Second week of phase 0 in Madrid. The neighborhood of Salamanca dawns with the slight movement of recent days: people walking or playing sports, someone who goes out to run errands and delivery vehicles that stop in front of the essential shops in the area. Since what abounds in this luxurious Madrid neighborhood are the stores of big brands, the global image of its streets continues to be that of closed locks and shop windows that still wear warm clothing. Although from this Monday, May 11, in some of them, especially in fashion, a “open by appointment” sign already hangs as this phase of de-escalation allows the public to be opened if visits to the premises are limited, they are sanitized garments after each touch and testers are disinfected after each use.

At 24 Serrano Street, the door of the Italian firm Pinko opens and Alberto Real – an employee of the same – comes out to smoke a cigarette. Today she has not yet attended to anyone, but yesterday she received the first two clients by appointment. “One of them had an emergency: she has a very famous bakery in Madrid and those on TV were going to interview her, so she came to buy a outfit for the occasion,” says Real, who is also a window dresser. “As of now there are almost no appointments, I dedicate myself to changing the window. We had to close all the stores quickly and running and that was where the previous catalog stayed. But it is one of the most important things in a store to attract the public and, now that we have opened and people are out for a walk, we have to update it as soon as possible, ”he adds.

Earlier this week, the District 41 Barrio de Salamanca merchants association –which brings together the shops, restaurants, hotels and art galleries of the area– announced that “all the protocols for disinfection and cleaning against covid- had been implemented. 19 in their shops ”so that the establishments could open from this Monday by appointment.

The “new normal” of clothing stores in the Salamanca neighborhood will be the gloves and mask required to access them. In Pinko’s case, exhibition clothing is just for looking and touching, but not for testing. “If they decide they like something, we bring them the same model from the warehouse to try it on,” Real explains, adding that they then disinfect it. In Alfaro 1926 (Goya, 7), another of the stores that have closed this week, they spray the garment with a “sanitizing liquid”, pass the “steamer” after each test and return it to the exhibitor. With the returns the same procedure will be done. “This liquid does not harm clothing,” says Hilario Alfaro, fourth generation at the helm of this family business, while holding the bottle. “At the moment, since the clients come very far apart in time, it can be done, we will see later when the flow increases”, she adds.

In Didom (Goya, 17), a store specialized in women’s footwear and accessories, before the health crisis they were already asking their clients to try on shoes with a shoe. “Many viruses and bacteria are transmitted through the feet,” says its manager, Antonio Ortiz, “so now all the more reason.” The shoe store has set a time limit of 45 minutes to stay in the store and 15 minutes if they only come for a pickup.

The other customer who visited Pinko on the first opening day after confinement did so looking for T-shirts. The cheapest sold by the Italian firm cost 50 euros. “She was an Andorran woman who was caught in the state of alarm in Madrid and decided to stay. But it seems that he is going to extend his stay because he wanted summer clothes and he took a few t-shirts, ”says Real.

However, not all customers who have visited these stores by appointment these days have done so to equip themselves for the new season. Some who went to Didom wanted to pick up personalized shoes that they had already bought “for weddings and events that were canceled due to the coronavirus.” “Custom shoes are not returned or exchanged, so they come to pick up the purchase,” says Ortiz as he orders dozens of boxes in various stacks. For Eduardo Rivera, manager of the Elisa Rivera store (Claudio Coello, 37), “the confusion of this phase 0 about which establishments one can go to or not by appointment makes many people not decide to come yet.” Some of her clients have decided to cancel their appointment until the next phase.

The few stores that have dared to open these days predict a different future for “shopping” activity. “It is already rare not to greet customers or treat them all the time from a distance,” says Real. “The type of client from the Salamanca neighborhood not only comes to buy, but to live an experience: to be entertained, to be offered a glass of champagne … but with all these restrictions, it will most likely change all that.” For Alfaro, the sale on-line It has been consolidated during the confinement and believes that it will continue even if the stores open normally. “We who are a small store with close treatment, we will have to make videos of the garments and send them home to the clients so they can try them on,” he concludes.

Information about the coronavirus:

– Here you can follow the last hour on the evolution of the coronavirus.

– The coronavirus map: this is how cases grow day by day and country by country

– Coronavirus action guide

– All measures against the coronavirus in Madrid

– In case you have symptoms, the Community of Madrid recommends avoid going to the health center except in cases of extreme need, use the web coronamadrid.com and the phone 900 102 112.

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