Sunland Park Mall to resume normal hours with additional virus precautions

EL PASO, Texas -- Starting Monday, the Sunland Park Mall will be returning to it's normal operating hours with what officials said would be plenty of new precautions in place to help fight the spread of Covid-19.

Beginning on Monday, the mall will return to the original operating hours of 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.

Mall management expressed confidence in their disinfecting protocols and said hand sanitizer stations will be located in highly-trafficked areas and walkways for public use. 

“This is really because our families in El Paso need the flexibility of late hours and early hours so they can run their errands," said mall manager Kelley Baker. "We have working hours here and having those hours back is a return to normalcy.”

However, mall staff made it clear that consistent social distancing and store occupancy limits must be respected by the customers.

“We have adopted our own code of conduct that can be found on our website. We ask that you do wear a mask, and different stores also have their own policies," said Baker.

Some customers indicated that while they first felt a bit uncomfortable shopping with a mask, they had since become accustomed to it over the past several months.

“It is the new normal for us," said mall shopper Cynthia Martinez. "I have to tell my kids that anywhere we go, you have to wear it.”

The mall is also planning to make considerable changes to interactive holiday-themed events due to the pandemic.

“It will be grab and go activities for the kids so that there is not a lot of gathering in groups, but they can still mark the holiday in a sweet way," said Baker.

Mall management said their new protocols are based on following local, state and federal health agency guidelines.