Overcrowding leads southern Alberta mall to put 'exterior lineups' in place

Crowded malls during the COVID-19 pandemic Huge crowds during Boxing Day sales at Calgary malls took on a different meaning this year. Timm Bruch reports.

Calgary — Officials at a shopping centre north of Calgary are warning customers they will need to line up outside the building in order to shop on Boxing Day due to COVID-19 rules.

CrossIron Mills, a single-floor shopping centre located in Balzac, Alta., announced on its Facebook page that it was experiencing "high volumes of customer traffic" on Saturday.

"We are closely monitoring traffic and, as (a) result and keeping with our COVID-19 safety measure, please be aware exterior line-ups will be implemented for the time," officials wrote in the post.

Images of the shoulder-to-shoulder foot traffic inside the mall began flowing in through social media since the mall opened to Boxing Day shoppers.

(Supplied)

According to Alberta's current COVID-19 guidelines, stores are limited to 15 per cent of their fire code capacity.

The restriction also includes the interior walkways and common areas of all shopping centres in the province.

Security staff at CrossIron Mills told CTV News Saturday that the fire code capacity for the mall is 6,200 people under the 15 per cent guidelines set out by Alberta Health.

They did not provide an exact count on how many shoppers were inside the mall at any given point on Boxing Day but, at around noon, there were thousands of vehicles in CrossIron Mills's parking lot.

A spokesperson for Ivanhoe Cambridge, the company which runs the mall, sent the following statement to CTV News about the Boxing Day crowds:

"We do expect high volumes of traffic at the centre during the holiday season. We are continuing to monitor the centre's traffic on a real time basis and have an operational plan in place to control traffic flow at each of our entrances should we near the 15% capacity limit as outlined by Alberta's public health guidelines.

In an effort to provide the safest possible shopping environment and to optimize the Holiday experience, CrossIron Mills is introducing a virtual lineup management system and curbside pick up at participating retailers. Visitors can reserve a time slot from home to plan their next visit to a participating retailer by accessing these lineup management systems on our website or by scanning a QR code.

The health and safety of our customers, tenants and employees are our number one priority. We are relying on the collective cooperation of the public to respect measures as outlined by governmental authorities and ask that everyone follow the physical distancing measures posted throughout the property."