All San Francisco retailers can reopen for pickup, delivery Monday

All retail businesses in San Francisco will be allowed to reopen on Monday for pickup and delivery, Mayor London Breed said. 

Breed previously announced that only a limited number of businesses would be permitted to resume operations, but on Wednesday she extended that to include all retailers, manufacturers, and warehouses. 

"What this means now for our city is incredible. Because we're talking about many of those small businesses in various neighborhoods where you see many of those shops closed; they will be open for curbside pickup and delivery," the mayor said.

Two major questions remain, how this can be done safely, and whether it will be enough to help the city's struggling economy recover.

Breed said that the near 95% of businesses that were ordered closed under the city's stay-at-home order will now be able to generate income. 

There are conditions though and the plan does not include shopping malls. City officials said retailers that will be offering curbside pickup must have a storefront for customers to walk up to. 

Additionally, Breed said there will be certain requirements and guidelines around wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing.

"Even though this is exciting, we still need to be very careful. It's because you all have been following the social distancing order and wearing masks and doing your part that we're even here in the first place," Breed said. "And the last thing we want to do is get too excited and then start flooding our streets with too many people where we see that it's a problem and then the numbers start to go up and then we have to dial it back and close some of these businesses." 

The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce said the move is critical to getting San Francisco's economy rolling. "Those folks that go back to work will start earning an income again, which will allow them to start spending again," said Jay Cheng from the Chamber. "So, we will see a new rush of consumers re-enter the market, which will help the economic recovery come back."

The chamber said maintaining consumer confidence going forward will mean maintaining faith in the public health response. "The more that we can assure people that there's proper testing, there's proper social distancing protocols, there's good public health standards in place, the more confidence they'll have in the economy," said Cheng.

The mayor predicts tough times to come, with a major deficit in the range of $1.1 to $1.5 billion looming. Even with the city's $800 million reserve fund that will mean difficult decisions to come.

"There always has been for more Muni service, for more housing, for more resources in general," said Breed. "So, now imagine all of our efforts and everything we've done to get to this point we're going to be in a position where we have to make really hard financial decisions."

The city's first steps toward a new normal under the coronavirus crisis is a clear indicator that the disease will be around for much longer. 

"The goal is to gradually move in a way where we start to get used to opening businesses," Breed said. "Because the fact is the coronavirus is going to be with us for a while. So let's make sure we are all prepared for what we need to do now and in the future to keep everyone safe." 

City officials will issue more information Thursday on how businesses can open for curbside service next week.