BREAKING: Victorian Retail Set to Reopen

This comes as the DHHS announced zero new cases overnight, for the first time since June 9th.

“Under the Third Step, and from 11:59 pm on Tuesday, Melbourne will move from “stay home” to “stay safe”, with no more restrictions on the reasons to leave home,” Premier Daniel Andrews said this afternoon.

Among retail, restaurants and cafes will be able to reopen from Wednesday monring, allowing up to 20 people indoors and 50 outdoors.

“Remaining retail will also open. Beauty and personal care services can resume. And for those businesses who need to get ready for their reopening – staff will be able to attend onsite straight away,” Andrews said.

The city of Melbourne has been living under Stage Four restrictions since August 1st, with all non-essential brick and mortar retail shutting their doors.

“This is a day that Victorian’s should be very proud of,” Andrews said. “Fundamentally, this belongs to every single Victorian, every single Victorian who has followed the rules, stayed the course, worked with me and my team, to bring this second wave to an end. But it is not over. This virus is not going away. It is going to continue to be a feature of our lives, it is going to be a feature of our lives every day until a vaccine turns up. These are big steps. We have all given a lot, I’m so proud and impressed and humbled by the contribution that so many Victorian families have made, so many Victorian businesses have made.”

Melburnians are currently flooding Twitter with their excitement, with #Kmart trending across the state.

I can go to Kmart Wednesday and I’ve never been so excited

— Tiffany (@tiffswc) October 26, 2020

“It would certainly not have been a true Australian Christmas without our Victorian retailers able to throw open their doors,” said Paul Zahra, the CEO of the Australian Retailer’s Association. “Today’s decision will have flow-on benefits for retailers all around the country with Victorian retailers impacting logistics and store operations nationally.”

The Deputy CEO of the National Retail Association (NRA), Lindsay Carroll, said the NRA members in Victoria will ‘breathing a sigh of relief’ as Christmas edges closer and closer.

“Victorian retailers have been left reeling by the COVID-19 wrecking ball and we’re just glad that our members in the state will be able to reopen their doors to customers,” she said.

“Every day that businesses have remained shut has added to the economic pain inflicted on Victorian retailers. New South Wales has shown how to balance public safety while having limited business restrictions and we hope that this is the route Victoria now takes.

“Businesses can start preparing immediately ahead of the reopen time at midnight Wednesday and we urge them to take advantage of this.

“The lead up to Christmas will be instrumental in determining whether many businesses survive. The Christmas retail trade period is worth more than $13 billion to the Victorian economy, its importance simply can’t be overstated.

“Common-sense has prevailed and we urge Victorian shoppers to support their local retailers,” Carroll explained.

More to come. 

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