Adapting Business During the Shutdown
Updated: Sep 15, 2021
Glenferrie businesses have been adapting to comply with the COVID-19 pandemic measures in a variety of different ways.
Social Distancing
Businesses have installed signage on shop floors to guide social distancing between customers so they maintain a 1.5 metre distance.
Signage on shop fronts indicate the number of customers permitted in-store, to comply with guidelines of one person per four square metres of floor space.
As a result Glenferrie Road has seen long, spaced-out queues forming outside Bakers Delight, Coles Local, Glenferrie Gourmet Meats, Haigh's Chocolates and Mind Games.
Local Shops Online
During April some of our local retail stores, including A La Plage, Blackbird and Fox, Homing Instincts, and Lucente Collective closed their shopfront doors and moved completely online, with many offering discounts and delivery deals.
Limited Clients
Businesses offering hands-on services, such as hairdressers, limited the days they were open to minimise direct contact between staff and customers and reduced the length of appointments.
Adjusted Opening Hours
Our local Bunnings and Woolworths adapted their opening hours during shutdown. Woolworths opened later and the first hour of shopping was exclusively for vulnerable individuals and healthcare workers. They also closed earlier to give staff more time to manage demand, stock and deliveries. Bunnings closed early and for a period of time the first trading hour of each weekday was open exclusively to tradespeople and medical and emergency service workers only
Services Online
The Hawthorn Library and Hawthorn Aquatic and Leisure Centre (HALC) were two of multiple council buildings closed on 18 March. Boorondara libraries have offered members free online learning courses through Lynda. HALC, managed by YMCA, partnered with online fitness platform ‘Les Mills’ to offer members the ‘on demand’ fitness resource.
After following directions to shutdown in March, local fitness venues Jetts Fitness, Xtend Barre and ZAP Fitness have offered online workout videos and other resources.
Glenferrie's churches, Immaculate Conception Church, the Hawthorn Presbyterian Church and St Columb's Hawthorn each offer various forms of online streaming, videos and readings through their website or by contacting them directly.
Teleheath
Access Health and Community transitioned to an intercom entry system and to limit in-person appointments they offer 'telehealth' consultations over phone or video. The telehealth appointments are bulk-billed for eligible patients.
Takeaway Only
While you were still able to grab takeaway from many of Glenferrie’s quick eat restaurants and cafes, large dine-in style restaurants such as Colourful Yunnan, Osteria 20, Rococo and Santoni Pizza & Bar transitioned exclusively to takeaway during the shutdown. Some cafes decided to wait out the shutdown period through temporary closure. Cafe Blac started operating a coffee cart at the Terry White Chemmart Pharmacy.
