BOISE, Idaho — Businesses across the country and here in Idaho are adapting to COVID-19 restrictions by giving customers more options to shop or browse than ever before.
Boise staple The Record Exchange has been open for over four decades, offering one-of-a-kind gifts, music, and more. The store closed when the pandemic started and reopened a little later than other area businesses, telling Idaho News 6 they wanted to make sure everyone, not only the customers, felt safe.
"We really wanted to focus on what the CDC was suggesting and what we felt the staff would be comfortable with as far as safety in here so we immediately started the mask rule, the hand sanitizing rule, the limited capacity," explains Michael Bunnell, owner of The Record Exchange.
Those safety measures have continued through the pandemic and during Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. The store offered appointments for one of its biggest shopping weekends of the year to limit how many people were browsing at once and make sure everyone was spaced out in line with social distancing rules.
Some of the other measures include new ways to get your purchases home.
"We're instituting things like curbside delivery. We started that in early summer, and recently we are starting to do delivery in Ada County. Again, for people who are uncomfortable going out at all. We totally understand so we can sort of have personal shoppers for those people and then deliver to their door if that's what they want," explains Bunnell.
The Record Exchange also offers shipping, and for in-store shopping, they accept several forms of contactless payment options like Google/Android, Samsung, and Apple Pay.
Despite the increased safety measures, Bunnell says customers have been good about adhering to the new rules.
"Like all businesses, it's always a struggle to survive and this has made it even harder. As expenses go up, you need your grosses to follow, but the community has really responded well, and we often have lines out front because of the capacity issue of people trying to get in the store so it's been really good," says Bunnell.
The Record Exchange is looking to install heaters for those standing outside the store as they wait to get inside. For more on all the changes happening at the store, click here.
