By Esther Fung

Simon Property Group, the largest U.S. shopping mall owner, is planning to reopen 49 malls and outlet centers in states loosening stay-at-home restrictions, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The properties will begin operating with reduced hours, and they will offer free masks to shoppers at the mall management office, the person said.

Malls and outlet centers in Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Indiana are among those opening on May 1 or May 2, the person said. The openings include some of Simon's top-performing shopping centers, like Phipps Plaza in Atlanta and the Galleria in Houston.

A Simon representative didn't respond to requests for comment.

The Indianapolis-based mall giant, which owns more than 200 properties in the country, also plans to enhance sanitization, including adding HEPA -- or high-efficiency particulate air -- filters that planes use, and offer infrared temperature testing to customers.

Local government officials around the country have been urging companies to get their businesses ready to reopen with safety measures such as more frequent sanitization and social-distancing protocols. Washington Prime Group, another mall owner based in Columbus, Ohio, and Chattanooga, Tenn.-based CBL Properties reopened malls in South Carolina last week.

Other retailers, including Five Below Inc., have informed landlords that they will pay at least part of May's rent as their stores reopen.

Simon Property said on March 18 that it would be closing all of its retail properties temporarily to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The reopened malls will operate from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, and from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays, a reduction of a few hours daily compared with their regular schedules. CNBC previously reported the openings.

Write to Esther Fung at esther.fung@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2020 15:20 ET (19:20 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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