Don't do it. Pretend that there's a flu epidemic, and that officials are recommending avoiding public places. That's actually kind of too fear-mongering for me, but you get the idea. Just don't.
On a side note, I've still never owned a pair of boots (no, not ever in my entire life). Every year I announce, "THIS will be the year in which I will buy boots", but I never do. They're too expensive, I'm too short to find ones that work well, I'm 1,000% clueless about style and have no idea what I'm doing, etc. The idea of being in the shopping area that you describe makes me sweat and want to hide under my desk.