With his hair longer than it has ever been, Romello VanCouten is the type of loyal mall patron that shopping mall tenants hope will help them out of their financial holes which were created by a four-month shutdown to lessen the spread of COVID-19.

VanCouten arrived with his mother to the Galleria at Crystal Run just as the mall reopened Friday to wait near C&C Salon for his first haircut since before the shutdown.

“It’s all coming off,” he said, moving his bangs out of his face.

He and his mother, Cheryl Borrillo, said they do not mind being required to wear a mask, having to maintain distance from others, and being asked not to handle items they do not plan to buy.

They also do not mind standing. In order to reduce close contact, the state is requiring all seating areas in malls to be blocked off to shoppers.

The same goes for food courts.

Though the vendors are open at the Town of Wallkill location, chairs and tables are grouped in the middle of the food court with signs reading, ‘Seating Area Closed As Per NYS Regulation.’

Borrillo just wants the shops to survive.

“For them to be shut down for a long time and not be able to make money — the stores need to be open,” she said. “It’s time.”

Earlier this week, Governor Andrew Cuomo surprised mall managers and tenants when he announced that most malls would be able to open on Friday, as long as their ventilation systems meet state standards.

Concerns brought up in other states about mall ventilation delayed their openings, as New York state officials needed to study the issue more, Gov. Cuomo said.

At one point, local mall tenants thought they might be included in Phase 2 of the state’s reopening plan in May.

Then they hoped to open in early June, and then mid-June.

It was, by almost all business owners’ accounts, brutal.

Owners of salons within malls fought to keep clients and to keep stylists, since salons not in malls were already offering haircuts and employment.

Owners of mall gift shops were pained to see customers buying cards and figurines in supermarkets and convenience stores, while their mall shops remained handcuffed.

“Things we’re starting to look pretty bleak,” said Ed Bouton, who has owned Bouton’s Hallmark on the Galleria’s second floor since the mall opened in 1991.

As each phase passed, so did holidays and special occasions, causing serious losses for Bouton and his 12 employees.

“We lost Easter business. We lost Mother’s Day. We lost graduation. We lost Father’s Day,” he said. “I almost lost a half a year of seasonal business.”

On the bright side, Bouton was able to reopen just in time for this weekend’s Hallmark Tree Ornament Premiere.

Bouton has been scheduling appointments and encouraging curbside pickup to keep the store from crowding.

“It’s a different customer than Christmas [shoppers],” he said pointing to the new series of Harry Potter ornaments. “They are collectors that actually buy these, and really look forward to it.”

“I would have liked to come Father’s Day or Mother’s Day or Easter,” ornament collector Doug Houskeeper said as he was leaving the store with two bags in each hand. “It’s a great store.”

Some stores have not yet opened as their owners are still acquiring proper equipment, installing protective barriers and putting up signage, according to management for both the Orange County and Poughkeepsie Galleria locations.

Hours of operation at both locations have been modified.

They are both open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m., and on Sunday from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.