The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
‘We’re not enforcers, we’re retailers’
Greeters at stores encourage mask compliance
Walmart’s new Health Ambassador might give you that old familiar greeter’s hello, but whoever is manning the door in the new role come Monday will mostly be checking your face.
The retail giant announced Wednesday that it will, beginning Monday, require masks or face coverings in all of its stores and its Sam’s Club warehouse stores as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. It put the rule in place even in stores where masks aren’t required by local government mandate, like Connecticut has required since April.
Walmart’s announcement, signed by the chief operating officers of Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club, said it came out early in part to provide time to train employees for the new Health Ambassador’s role. Stores “will station them near the entrance to remind those without a mask of our new requirements.”
Some stores in Connecticut already have similar setups in place.
Rick Bossie, senior vice president of operations for Big Y Foods, said cooperation from customers hasn’t been a big issue issue for them.
“People are doing the right thing,” said Bossie, whose chain has 35 stores across the state. “We’re just doing our best.”
Bossie took light exception to the idea of employees “enforcing” the mask mandate. Big Y has people
at the door, but they’re cleaning carriages and counting customers to make sure the store doesn’t go over its capacity.
“We’re not enforcers,” Bossie said, “we’re retailers.”
Big Y and Home Depot are among stores that require their employees to wear masks. Home Depot also requests masks for customers in places where there isn’t a mandate.
“Associates also have some masks to give to customers who may not have them on hand,” a spokesperson for Home Depot said. “We haven’t required associates to deny entry to customers because it can be dangerous to put them in that position.”
A question to Walmart about its 33 Connecticut stores’ experiences with customers over the mask requirement was referred back to the announcement.
“We know it may not be possible for everyone to wear a face covering. Our associates will be trained on those exceptions to help reduce friction for the shopper and make the process as easy as possible for everyone,” the Walmart announcement said. “As we have seen in states and municipalities with mask mandates, virtually everyone either brings a mask or readily complies with the requirement, and we anticipate that to happen in other areas as well.”
Walmart’s announcement said the company is “currently considering solutions” for customers who arrive on Monday and beyond without a face covering. At Sam’s Club, whose only remaining Connecticut location is in Newington, employees will offer a mask to customers without one.
A Walmart spokesman said the company has the staffing to fill its new role from within, and the schedule will be shared among employees since it may involve being outside and standing for much of the time.
The announcement said 65 percent of Walmart’s stores in the United States were already under some kind of face-covering mandate.
“While we’re certainly not the first business to require face coverings,” the announcement said — and Starbucks and Best Buy are among the latest — “we know this is a simple step everyone can take for their safety and the safety of others in our facilities.”