Retailers are having to tackle problems with ventilation, humidity and dust in their shut down shops.

Businesses also have the headache of the risk of stock going out of season the longer their businesses remain shuttered.

Measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 have meant a month-long closure for most stores.

Retailers will be allowed to operate kerbside pick-up and delivery from today, but potential problems persist at premises locked up for an extended period.

Lorraine Shailer, head of the retail division of the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce, said heat and humidity could ruin stock.

She added: “I imagine a lot of retailers have kept air-conditioning running, which is a cost. It’s either that or not being able to sell your stock when the time comes. “In Bermuda, because the conditions are extreme, it would ruin stock, and the building itself would start getting mouldy if we didn’t do things like that.”

Ms Shailer said that larger stores and those inside managed malls would have checks carried out to make sure that systems such as air conditioning were working.

She added: “It’s the individual boutique stores that may have more of an issue, because if you are not allowed to go into your business, which is most retailers, then it might be a problem.”

Dust collection on displays, stock, shelves and other areas in a store during the weeks it was locked up could also present difficulties.

Ms Shailer said: “Some people might need to prep for reopening, whether they need to clean the store or dust the store, or whether they need to assess what the situation is.”

Today’s relaxation of restrictions is the first of a planned four-phase return to normal life.

Retailers who were unable to trade over four weeks of lockdown will be able to open between 7am and 9pm, but only kerbside service or home delivery will be permitted.

Ms Shailer said: “The benefit of having a ‘soft opening,’ basically kerbside and deliveries, is it may mean the opening is easier because you are not going to have anyone inside your store.

“It may be that while you set up the kerbside and delivery, you can be sorting out the inside of your store in preparation for when it does reopen in phase two.”

For some retailers there will also be the problem of stock having gone out of season during the lockdown.

Ms Shailer said: “Each retailer will look at their business model and decide how to make it work for them. If it’s a core item of stock, they might ask ‘Do we keep it for another season, or do we have to have promotions?’

Some retailers will think about promotions, some will think about saving stock for another spring and summer.”

Social-distancing in stores will be another consideration to be looked at when retailers are allowed to admit customers again.

Some retailers in the US have started to change their layouts in anticipation of reopening and having to maintain social-distancing among customers.

An article in business magazine Forbes said retailers may consider installing Plexiglas screens at checkout counters — an idea that has already been done in Bermuda supermarkets.

Ms Shailer said she expected there would be rules for the reopening of shops in Bermuda.

She added: “I don’t think anyone would be expecting anything less. We are still being told to social-distance in our lives, so it is only natural and right that would happen within stores as well.”