Dollar Tree, Family Dollar reverse coronavirus mask policy
Employees, vendors still required to wear masks
Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores will “request” but no longer require shoppers to wear masks when shopping as a precaution against coronavirus.
Websites for both chains, which share common ownership, state that employees and vendors still have to wear masks and that customers are urged to do so as well.
Like many other large American retailers -- including Walmart, Kohl’s, Kroger and Winn-Dixie -- the stores had recently implemented mask requirements, making the reversal stand out.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FDO | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| DLTR | DOLLAR TREE INC. | 120.21 | -1.46 | -1.20% |
| WMT | WALMART INC. | 60.64 | +0.04 | +0.07% |
| KR | THE KROGER CO. | 55.26 | -0.06 | -0.10% |
| KSS | KOHL'S CORP. | 23.53 | -0.53 | -2.20% |
On July 8, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree announced that masks would be required for everyone inside – employees, vendors and shoppers alike, USA Today reported.
But an update to the rules posted on July 16 altered the wording and left out the requirement for shoppers.
“In accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we are requiring all associates and vendors to wear face coverings when inside our stores,” the stores’ mask policy currently reads. “We also request that our customers wear face coverings, and require face coverings where required by state or local ordinance.”
CORONAVIRUS MASKS ARE REQUIRED INSIDE THESE STORES ACROSS THE US
The stores will be providing masks and gloves to all employees during their shifts, according to their respective websites – and the companies say they support “all local and state ordinances that require associates and shoppers to wear facial coverings and/or gloves while in public.”
The stores have also added clear plastic screens at the cash registers in all of their more than 15,000 locations in North America, according to the site.
Back in early May, a dispute over mask-wearing at a Family Dollar store in Michigan left a security guard shot dead. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had issued a statewide mask order at the time.
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Calvin “Duper” Munerlyn, a father of nine, told a woman she needed a mask to enter the store on May 1, according to prosecutors.
Sharmel Teague, 45, allegedly began shouting at Munerlyn and spat in his face. He asked her to leave and told the cashier not to serve her.
Twenty minutes later, her 23-year-old son, Ramonyea Bishop, allegedly returned to the store with Teague’s husband, confronted Munerlyn and shot him in the head.