Shoppers face new rule as some stores adopt mask requirement

Shoppers face new rule as some stores adopt mask requirement 
 
By Morgan Hughes
Casper Star-Tribune
Via Wyoming News Exchange
 
CASPER  — One of the two main entrances to Casper’s east side Walmart was taped off Monday morning. At the remaining entrance, a woman in a face mask and reflective vest awaited customers. 
As patrons approached, the woman would either thank them and welcome them in or she would politely ask them to don a face covering if they were not wearing one already. It was the first day the store required face masks for customers nationwide. 
The employee at the door — who couldn’t give the Star-Tribune her name because of Walmart’s media relations policy — was practicing a brand new position the company has created to facilitate the new requirement: health ambassador. 
With this move, Walmart joins a growing list of chain retailers that are instituting more rigorous safety protocols as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the U.S. 
The employee at the east side Walmart said it had not been a particularly hostile morning. As of 11 a.m. Monday, only five customers had decided to shop elsewhere when she told them they needed a mask to enter the store. 
Shortly after she explained the new process to the Star-Tribune, two customers and a child approached the store’s entrance unmasked. When asked to follow the new face covering rule, one woman balked before reaching into her purse to find her mask. 
In a letter signed by the chief operating officers of Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club, the companies explained the reasoning for the new mask requirement. 
“Currently about 65 percent of our more than 5,000 stores and clubs are located in areas where there is some form of government mandate on face coverings,” the letter reads. 
The companies are now requiring masks at all stores “to help bring consistency across stores and clubs,” the letter explains. 
If a Monday morning walk through Walmart was any indication, the new mandate is being honored by customers. 
A Star-Tribune reporter observed just three customers throughout the entire store Monday who did not have their face covered — either because they had pulled their mask down or because they were not wearing one at all. Employees at the chain had already been wearing face coverings. 
Not all shoppers appreciated the new mask requirement, but most honored it. 
One woman, who declined to give her name, told the Star-Tribune she thought the masks were “stupid” and that she had trouble breathing while wearing one, but said she still supported stores requiring their use as a safety measure. She kept her mask on until she reached her vehicle in the store’s parking lot. 
Elsie Herbort, former mayor of Mills, said she felt the masks were political, but wasn’t opposed to stores requiring them. Her frustrations come from frequently changing directives from health officials, she said, making it difficult to know what’s valid. Still, she said she’s trying to follow the most current guidance as best she can. 
“I think it’s a bunch of bull,” she said, “But I go along because that’s what they’re telling us we need to do.” 
Not all customers were frustrated or skeptical of the requirement. 
Gwynn and Rick Gorrell, who walked into Walmart in face masks and rubber gloves, said they appreciated the move.
“We feel a bit safer with the masks,” Rick said. 
The couple is from Arizona but has been on a summer road trip. They’re currently staying in Glenrock, where they said it seems almost nobody observes the face mask guidance. Before Glenrock, the pair were in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which has instituted its own local face mask order. 
The Gorrells said the difference in Wyoming has been stark. 
With multiple corporate retail and grocery chains instituting their own mask policies, it’s likely masks will become more common in Casper as well. The grocery chain Albertsons will begin requiring masks Tuesday. Starbucks and Best Buy both instituted companywide requirements last week. Target will begin requiring masks Aug. 1. 
Casperite Peg Reed doesn’t mind. She stopped by Walmart for a few essentials Monday morning — toilet paper, laundry detergent, milk. She kept her mask on while loading her groceries into the trunk of her car. “I just figure it’s a small sacrifice to make,” she said, “to make other people comfortable or safe.”