(CNN) – Walmart will require customers at all of its US stores to wear masks starting next week, making it the largest retailer to demand facial covers as coronavirus cases continue to rise.
Other national chains made similar moves on Wednesday. Kroger, the parent company of Fred Meyer, and Kohl’s announced that they would begin to require all customers to wear masks, indicating that more retailers are lining up behind mandates to wear masks. The National Retail Federation, the main lobbying group for the industry, also asked retailers to require masks for customers.
Most major retailers and grocery stores initially hesitated to enact their own masks mandates for customers during the pandemic, in part for fear of antagonizing shoppers who refuse to use them. Retailers have said they are reluctant to put their employees in the position of enforcing mask requirements.
But the terrain in retail has changed in recent weeks as the coronavirus pandemic worsens. More than 3.3 million people have tested positive for coronavirus across the country, and more than 130,000 have died. Cases are increasing in much of the country, and many cities and states are imposing restrictions to contain new outbreaks, including mask requirements in public settings.
About 65% of Walmart’s more than 5,000 stores, including its Sam’s Club locations, are in areas where there is a government mandate to cover their faces.
“To help provide consistency across stores and clubs, we will require all shoppers to wear a face covering beginning Monday, July 20,” said Walmart chief operating officer Dacona Smith and chief operating officer of Sam’s Club. Lance De La Rosa in a blog post on Wednesday. . “This will give us time to inform customers and members of the changes, post posters, and train associates on the new protocols.”
Industry groups and unions had stepped up their calls around mask requirements for customers in recent days. Last week, the Retail Leaders Industry Association, an industry trade group, called on the nation’s governors to approve state mandates that require citizens to wear masks in public. The United States Food and Commercial Workers Union also urged government officials and business leaders to demand masks for customers in an advertisement over the weekend.
Walmart’s decision may affect other companies’ policies on masks and public opinion on the use of masks, said Alan Ellstrand, a professor at the University of Arkansas Walton College of Business.
“Walmart has a great influence in this regard,” he said. “You can tell the public that if a large retailer like Walmart admits that customers wear a mask, it’s good that Americans do it more broadly as well.”
Still, retailers have struggled to enforce mask requirements, leading to clashes between customers and employees. A security guard at a Family Dollar store in Michigan was shot dead in May after he told a customer to wear a mask, and in recent weeks, videos of confrontations between angry customers and employees over these rules have gone viral.
Although there is no federal mandate to wear a mask, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says everyone “should wear a cloth face covering when they have to go out in public.” The CDC said that “the face covers are meant to protect other people.”
Walmart said it will enforce the new policy by parking “health ambassadors” near the entrance to remind shoppers of the requirement. “Our ambassadors will receive special training to help make the process as easy as possible for clients,” the company said. “The ambassadors, identifiable by their black polo, will work with customers who show up at a store without covering their faces to try to find a solution.”
Similarly, at Sam’s Club locations, associates at store entrances will remind customers of the face mask requirement. Complimentary masks will be provided if shoppers don’t have one, according to the blog post, and people can purchase masks at the club.
Walmart’s policy change came after Starbucks said last week that it will require customers to wear toppings or face masks at the company’s 9,000 U.S. stores beginning Wednesday. Best Buy also announced Tuesday that it will also require all shoppers entering its approximately 1,000 stores to wear face masks.
