Due to the spread of COVID-19, an independent state of emergency was declared here in Aichi Prefecture yesterday. Most of the city's major commercial facilities will be closed starting today or tomorrow.
Given the circumstances, Circles, whose business revolves around bicycles—the currently best means of transportation to avoid the "Three Cs" (crowded places, close-contact settings, and confined/closed spaces)—had intended to continue operations by keeping our doors open and requiring hand sanitization and masks upon entry.
We operated the store in that manner today, but we saw more customers than we expected, both from the neighborhood and from afar. While we are very grateful for this, the timing of visits sometimes overlapped, creating situations inside the shop that could be classified as the "Three Cs."
In light of this situation, and out of consideration for the health of our visiting customers, our staff, and the future of Japan, we will be changing our business operations starting tomorrow. We will primarily require an appointment for all entries, and we will make disinfecting at the entrance and wearing a mask mandatory for all who enter.
Appointment requests will be accepted via our website and by phone. Letting us know the nature of your inquiry in advance will help us assist you more smoothly. Of course, we will continue to respond to inquiries via email and social media direct messages as we have in the past.
Click here to book an appointment online.
To book an appointment by phone,
please call 052-331-3232.
Click here for online consultations via ZOOM or other platforms.
Please note that we will continue to accept repairs for standard bicycles on-site as before. Because we receive many repair requests daily, please understand that bicycles left for repair will be kept by us and returned at a later date.
This is a sudden change, and we appreciate your understanding.
To prevent the further spread of COVID-19, we ask that you avoid non-essential and non-urgent visits.
Additionally, our online shop remains open 24/7, so please utilize it for any purchases. We are happy to answer any questions about our products by phone or email. We are currently working on implementing "tele-customer service" as soon as possible and will announce it once it is ready.
We want to act with a firm eye on the situation now so that when this crisis ends, we can return to our normal lives where we can casually meet with many people. We sincerely ask for your cooperation.
