Businesses begin to re-open and let customers inside on first day of "safer-at-home" order

The streets downtown and the parking lot at Meridian Crossroads shopping center were a little busier today.

Under Governor Tate Reeves new “safer at home” order, some businesses were given the okay to open their doors. With the new order, retail stores were able to reopen with no more than half their usual capacity of customers allowed inside. Owners and customers are still required to follow social distancing practices and CDC guidelines when it comes to wearing masks, using hand sanitizer and having cleaning supplies available.

Loeb’s is one of countless retailers in East Mississippi thankful to re-open today. President, Robert Loeb says his store had been closed for almost a month. He says he’s excited to reopen and make that personal connection with customers.

“We're really excited to be open again. This morning, I could already notice more traffic downtown, I've seen a lot more cars. We've already had a couple of customers and we've just gotten open here so hopefully that's a good sign.”

Loeb says his store had been providing curbside services, but it wasn’t the same.

“We're a specialty store that deals with our customers, primarily that's the way we sell and take care of our customers so to simply carry it out to the car or try to do it on the phone, it works but it's not what we're all about,” says Loeb.

Some larger retail stores like TJ Maxx and Ross Dress for Less still remained closed.

Other local businesses told Newscenter 11 they will continue to only do curbside and delivery for safety reasons or possibly reopen later this week with limited hours.

WTOK will continue to profile other, local businesses that have re-opened under the “safer at home” executive order in the upcoming days.