Businesses differ on what to do once state’s mask mandate lifts
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson plans to allow the statewide mask mandate to expire Wednesday, leaving it up to businesses to decide whether they want to enforce the COVID-19 precaution proven to be effective in preventing the spread of the virus.
Appearing before the state Legislative Council on Monday, Hutchinson said he would allow the mask mandate to expire on Wednesday, following his decision to lift other public health directives on businesses, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
The lifting of the mandate will come just slightly over one month since the state’s Feb. 28 spike of 3,220 new cases recorded in one day.
The Sentinel-Record spoke to downtown businesses Monday to get their take on what they plan to do once the mandate is lifted. Some plan to strongly encourage masking, one plans to require masks with no questions asked and some have already been disregarding the masking requirement.
Two downtown eateries were alike in saying they would strongly encourage masking and keep their signage up, but will not require masking after Wednesday, and expect more pushback in their mere encouragement.
Angels Italian Restaurant Owner JoAnn Privitello said they have been lucky in not having any issues with customers not wanting to comply with the mask mandate, but once the mandate is lifted they expect to see a struggle.
“I’m going to keep my staff masked, (but) I don’t want to fight customers; I don’t want to lose business from it, so we just have to take one step at a time,” Privitello said. “I’ve had my vaccines, but it doesn’t mean it’s over. … I’m excited that it’s come to this point a year later, and we’ll just go with the program; we’ll see.”
Kilwins co-owners David and Peggy Carroll had similar viewpoints.
“We won’t be as hard on it (masking) as we are, but we’ll encourage it,” David Carroll said. “Here during the deal we was required to do that, but if he drops that then you just pretty well have to encourage it because you don’t have no backup.”
“We don’t force anybody out,” Peggy Carroll said. “If they come in (without a mask) then we just kind of get them on out, and the reason for that is there are other customers.”
Peggy Carroll said while she is not worried about her own health, she has found that unmasked customers make masked customers uncomfortable.
Like Angels, Kilwins employees will continue to be required to mask for the time being.
Similarly, Toddy Pitard, owner of Lauray’s — The Diamond Center, said his employees will continue to be required to wear masks after Wednesday, but incoming customers will have the choice.
“We’ll have masks here and if they come in and feel like they need one we’ll have it available. We’ll have sanitizer out and our key is to make sure everybody is safe and healthy and not harass people. … My staff will be wearing it for, I don’t know how long, but we will continue to wear it until we think that enough of the shots and protocol are met,” Pitard said.
“I just think we need to be smart,” he said. “If somebody is coughing or is sick or whatever have you, I mean you need to deal with that, but I just think we need to be smart. … People want to get back to normal as soon as possible, but they want to do it safely.”
One store firmly said they will continue masking and all other COVID-19 precautions: The Toy Chest.
Toy Chest co-owner Anne Marcus said between masking, limiting guest capacity and other precautions, it allows her customers to feel “secure.”
“I mean no place is secure, don’t get me wrong, but they feel that we’re trying to do what we can to make it a safe shopping experience for them and they appreciate it,” Marcus said.
Despite the lifting of the mandate, they will not relax on any precautions, and she said they will reevaluate when the vaccines progress.
“Right now there is just such a small percentage of people in the United States who have had both doses of the vaccine,” Marcus said. “I think it’s so exciting that is moving forward, but I think we do have to see that percentage increase in the U.S. before we step back and reevaluate. I know that our employees have requested that we continue the mask mandate in our business, and that makes them more comfortable, and I really feel it makes our customers more comfortable. Right now, our employees’ safety is number one.”
As for the lifting of the mandate, she said, “I feel just personally it’s a disappointing choice for our state, and I’m sorry to see it happen.”
Representatives of other stores had the opposite opinion when it comes to following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines in taking COVID-19 precautions. Some haven’t required masks, despite the mandate.
Leslie Jo Tucker, co-owner of Jess and JoJo Boutique, said her store doesn’t require masks but practices social distancing. She said customers find this to be “more inviting,” and she finds it helps business.
Evilo sales associate Elizabeth Wadkins said because of edible product samples inhouse, masks are not required in her store, but with the mandate lifted she is excited because as an employee she will no longer be required to wear a mask during hot workdays.
Similar to Tucker, Wadkins said she has found relaxing the masking requirement in their store has helped business, too.
“We do have people come in and they notice that some aren’t wearing a mask, some are, and they’re like ‘Well what about the masks?’” she said. “And when we tell them we’re not real strict on it because ‘How can you taste without wearing a mask?’ they are relieved and they spend more time in here and then most of them spend quite a bit of money in here when they’re shopping, so I’ve found that it does help.”