Harmons to Require All Utah Customers to Wear Masks in Stores

Customers at all Harmons grocery stores in Utah will soon be required to wear face masks while inside stores, the company said Friday.

The requirement begins Saturday for Salt Lake County stores and July 5 at all other Utah locations, Harmons President Bob Harmon said in a press release.

Posters will be placed reminding customers that masks are required at the entrances.

The governor, local officials, and medical professionals are urging all Utahns to wear masks when they are away from home. That includes when inside retail stores like markets, clothing stores, restaurants and bars. (Although once customers are seated in a restaurant, they can remove the mask to enjoy food and drink.)

Harmons is not the first Utah food business that requires masks. Several months ago, the owner of Snider Bros. Meats began demanding that customers cover their faces before entering their Cottonwood Heights store. Facial covers were one of the measures that employees said would make them feel safer at work.

Costco, the national department store chain, has also required customers to wear masks since May.

For Harmons, expanding the mask requirement to all of his Utah stores was “the obvious next step” as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

“As the pandemic progresses,” Harmon said in the statement, “it has become clear that we must do even more to protect our associates.”

The Utah Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend wearing face covers in public places and when social distancing is not possible.