NEW YORK (News Nation) — Two major retailers on Thursday joined the growing list of national chains that will require customers to wear face masks regardless of where cities or states stand on the issue.
Target’s mandatory face mask policy will go into effect Aug. 1, and all CVS stores will begin requiring them on Monday.
More than 80% of Target’s 1,800 stores already require customers to wear masks due to local and state regulations. Target will hand out masks at store entrances to those who need them.
The announcements come one day after the nation’s largest retailer, Walmart, said that it would mandate face shields for all customers starting Monday.
Starbucks, Best Buy, Kohl’s and Kroger Co. have also announced mandatory masks nationwide.
Some retailers have hesitated to make masks mandatory nationwide out of fear of angering some customers over what, even in a pandemic, has become a political issue.
Retailers have been reluctant to put employees in the position of becoming enforcers. Several incidents of confrontations with customers and store employees have been caught on video across the country. Earlier this week, a Michigan sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a man suspected of stabbing another man who had challenged him about not wearing a mask at a store.
It has been difficult to enforce such rules even in states that mandate face masks. However, the recent surge of new virus cases — particularly in Florida, California, Texas and Arizona — has left them with no choice, retail experts say.
“To be clear, we’re not asking our store employees to play the role of enforcer, ” said Jon Roberts, the chief operating officer at CVS. “What we are asking is that customers help protect themselves and those around them by listening to the experts and heeding the call to wear a face covering.”
