ALSO OPEN: West Seattle Runner, with a unique protection setup

| Coronavirus | West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

As we continue spotlighting how businesses are working on staying safe if they’re allowed to stay open – the photo and report are from West Seattle Runner (2743 California SW; WSB sponsor)

From WSR’s Tim and Lori McConnell:

West Seattle Runner is staying open regular business hours until told to do otherwise.

Our biggest change is we are not doing our full fitting, which usually gets us up close and personal to each customer. Instead, we are doing a distance fitting, where we will still check gait and shoe correction, but not check shoe fit. This we will leave to the customer to tell us. We will also try to do this within a 10 minute window while maintaining a physical distance of 6′. To help offset any fit issues, we are extending our return policy to 45 days.

We have added a take-out option, where we will take an order over the phone and place it in a bag, ready to grab and go by the front door. This will allow the customer to be in our store for less than 10 seconds to minimize contact.

For customers that aren’t comfortable paying over the phone or just want to come in and grab what they need, we have erected a Lexan shield between our cash register and the check out area. This keeps staff and customers separated even though they are within 6 feet of each other. We have put our bags on the customers’ side so they can bag their own items, and will also have them scan their own items, another measure to keep contact to a minimum. We also wipe down our key pad after every transaction, and we will limit the number of people in the store to 10, including staff.

We are looking forward to seeing what other businesses have come up with to help us all get through these tough times.

Tim and Lori
West Seattle Runner

UPDATE: WSR has suspended their regular running events TFN.

miws March 17, 2020 (11:41 am)

This is such a difficult time for us all as individuals, especially those of us that fit one or both of the most-at-risk categories, and also difficult for our favorite, beloved small businesses. I love how many of them are getting inventive, especially so quickly, in trying to stay in business while continuing to be of service to us! —-Mike

dsa March 17, 2020 (12:45 pm)

I like it. Looks like the TV commercial. I think those are wipes for the styles at the card reader too.

JVP March 17, 2020 (1:47 pm)

Thanks for being proactive about this, and helping me get a new pair of Brooks running shoes. Paid via phone and picked the box up outside the store. We’d nip this thing sooner if all businesses were as thoughtful as WS Runner. EVERY worker in a grocery store should be wearing a (possibly homemade) mask to prevent the spread of this thing. Be safe everyone, patronize local biz, and keep exercising!

Maria M. March 17, 2020 (4:45 pm)

Agreed, JVP. For those small businesses who think it’s still business as usual, please review your processes with an eye to protecting both your employees and customers like me. Case in point: Yesterday I was asked to hand my debit card to an employee who was not wearing gloves so he could swipe my card and then I was asked to sign for the purchase with my finger. I responded by asking to use the card reader myself and signed for the purchase with my gloved hand. Today, I went by the same small business and decided not to go in.