Hamilton Place and Northgate malls are taking steps to meet Mayor Andy Berke's new limits on restaurant operations even as the shopping centers remain open as some others close nationally.
Restaurants in the two malls will stop allowing patrons to dine-in to comply with Berke's executive order to protect against the spread of the coronavirus, said Stacey Keating, a spokeswoman for CBL Properties.
At Hamilton Place, the region's biggest shopping center, seating in the food court area will close to diners even though the eateries can remain open, she said.
The restaurants can offer take-out or delivery, Keating said.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga area restaurants changing menus, service due to coronavirus fears)
(READ MORE: Chattanooga area stores closed due to coronavirus concerns)
"People can come up and take it away," she said. But they can't eat the food in the mall's common seating area, Keating said.
At Northgate, Chick-fil-A already has closed its dine-in seating. However, the seating area in the adjacent common area also will be closed to dining, Keating said.
Shoppers already are sparse in the two malls as stores close amid the spread of the coronavirus.
As of Thursday, Keating said the malls will remain open, although the center is now opening later than normal. The mall posted a sign at Hamilton Place saying that the doors will open at 9 a.m. Keating said that's a change from a typical 7 a.m. opening.
Simon Property Group, the largest U.S. mall operator, has decided to close all of its more than 200 shopping centers. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, which owns about three dozen U.S. malls, also announced Wednesday that it was closing its properties for at least 10 days due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19.
Keating said CBL is keeping malls open to allow retailers the flexibility to operate. At the same time, many stores are closed as they follow their corporate guidelines. For example, anchors Belk and JCPenney have closed at Hamilton Place while Dillard's has remained open at reduced hours.
On Thursday, some people at Hamilton Place said they like that the mall is open.
Aaron Burklow, who was in Chattanooga on vacation, said it would be "kind of a bother if it was closed." He said he was already concerned about the number of store closings.
Shopper Diego Miquel of Chattanooga said he was looking for new clothes.
"It would bother me a lot" if the mall shut down altogether, he said.
Shun Livsey, who was operating the Shoe MGK kiosk at the mall, said that while mall traffic is down, there's still the opportunity to make money from the existing shoppers.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.