General Manager of Accra Mall Ltd, Denise Asare has shared that despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the shopping mall, the management of the mall has taken certain steps to recover from this impact.
Speaking on the Global Media Alliance Webinar series titled, “The New Normal: Unlocking Digital Transformation in the Retail Industry’, Denise divulged that the mall has embraced at least five means in recovering from the pandemic.
She noted that prioritizing the workforce and safety, keeping essential services open, providing rental relief and seeking the counsel of government officials have kept Accra Mall on the road to recovery.
The news of people being at the receiving end of the COVID-19 pandemic induced-layoffs has characterized these pasts months of 2020. However, Denise Asare of Accra Mall has disclosed that “Accra Mall made sure to protect the jobs of all its workforce” during this pandemic. She believes that in times of uncertainties and concern, it is not only about what leaders of organizations do but how they do it that matters.
“We wanted to tell our people that we were there with them in terms of their welfare and their psychological care”, she added.
Secondly, Accra Mall since the outbreak of the pandemic has prioritized safety as it continues to periodically disinfect all shops, ensure mandatory hand washing and sanitizing as well as ensuring that all shoppers wear their facemasks before entry into the mall.
Amid the pandemic, the management of the mall has provided rent reliefs to its tenants to be able to ease the burden of the pandemic.
It can be recalled that during the lockdown period, the Government only allowed essential services to physically operate. In its support for customers and shops at the mall, the Accra Mall management kept essential services such as pharmacies, food retailers, among other shops open.
In addition to all these measures put in place, management of the mall sought the guidance and advice of relevant government institutions to navigate the uncertain times of COVID-19.
Denise Asare has opined that the shopping mall industry is still pretty young and so it will be premature to shut down. With the increasing age of digitization, she believes that new technologies will stimulate shopping experiences.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah
