Malaysia recently relaxed its Movement Control Order (MCO), with mixed reactions from netizens. Queues were spotted at local malls, with shopkeepers & employees waiting in line to get their temperatures taken in order to resume business as usual, reported Astro Awani on 4 May.
However, a viral Facebook photo album posted on Sunday (10 May), depicted other struggles that retail industry employees may face, when trying to return to a semblance of normalcy — “damaged” goods.
With over 26,000 shares at the time of writing, the post clearly resonated with netizens who relayed their concerns and well-wishes to the owner of this store.
The netizen begins his post with sharing that these “damaged” goods make him concerned that even if shops are allowed to open, there’s “no point”.
Although the location of this store remains unstated, the photos of branded bags covered in spotted mould do tug at our heartstrings.
Pictures also come with the timestamp in the bottom right corner, depicting that they were taken on 10 May 2020, at around 11.35am. Assuming the store complied with MCO regulations which began officially on 18 Mar 2020, the goods had to endure 50 days worth of no maintenance.
This Camel Active shoulder sling bag, was priced at RM679, approximately S$221.58. According to the tag, we can also gather that the affected store could have been a METROJAYA outlet in Malaysia.
To show the extent that 2-months of neglect could have on retail outlets, the album went on to capture just how many other items in store were affected.
This shelf had multiple bags on display which did appear to be discoloured with mottled appearances.
Wallets weren’t spared either, with pieces in different shades of leather covered in a whitish mould on a display rack.
Black & navy belts were spotted with light brown coloration, as they were left hanging on store hooks.
Popular menswear brand Ralph Lauren’s shoes were featured in the album as well, with some slip-in boat shoes affected by the mould.
Finally, the post also depicted a plush seating area, covered in white spots as it was presumably left unmaintained when stores were required to close.
Though the scene must have been devastating for returning staff, the netizen’s post served to highlight other difficulties retail employees may face when they try to reopen their shops.
Some netizens commented that the presence of mould, proved the authenticity of the leather goods. The OP replied that faux leather has been known to get mouldy as well.
A netizen noted that the Metrojaya outlet was most likely in Sabah, as featured on a “Borneo TV page”.
Others wondered if it was possible to salvage the less affected products, by cleaning the mould off and attempting to restore the bags & shoes.
If you do discover mould on any of your leather goods, here’s a quick guide on removing & cleaning both shoes and bags in less severe cases.
We offer the department store owner and staff our well-wishes as they’ll hopefully be able to limit their losses by salvaging the less severely damaged goods.
As for the lockdown is set to continue till 9 Jun for our neighbours, we do hope that some assistance will be rendered to affected industries with similar retail woes.
Featured image adapted from Facebook.
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