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business Monday 27 July 2020
As tide turns, retailers that resisted masks relent

By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO reopening its restaurant
AP Retail Writer outside of the governor's
NEW YORK (AP) — When orders. Casey's owners
the parent of Southern Lance and Laurie Mounts
grocery chain Winn-Dixie couldn't immediately be
said that it wasn't going to reached for comment.
require customers to wear Meanwhile, nearly 7 out
masks to protect against of 10 grocery workers said
the spread of the corona- their employers are not
virus, the response was bru- enforcing mask mandates
tal, with some loyal patrons in the stores, according to
vowing on social media a survey of 4,000 grocery
never to shop there again. workers between June 22
Days later, Winn-Dixie re- to June 26 by the United
versed course and said that Food and Commercial
it would mandate masks in Workers Union Interna-
states or localities that had tional, which represents
no requirement. grocery workers and meat
The about-face on Mon- packers, among others. q
day followed another high-
ly-publicized reversal last
month by AMC. Less than a
day after the nation's larg-
est movie theater chain In this Friday, May 15, 2020, file photo, a woman wearing a mask, left, walks by a Dollar Tree, while
said it would defer to local another woman waits in line to shop at the store, which is limiting customers amid the coronavirus
governments on whether pandemic, in Chicago. Associated Press
masks should be worn, it
came up with a new mes- consumer activist," said at Southeastern said in an tions. It had initially started
sage in response to social Stefan Pollack, president of emailed statement. mandating shoppers wear
media backlash: Custom- his own Los Angeles-based AMC Theaters CEO Adam masks along with suppliers
ers who don't wear masks public relations and mar- Aron said last month that and employees in stores,
won't be admitted or al- keting company. "Brands it was clear from the re- but then changed its policy
lowed to stay. no longer have the luxury sponse that "we did not go last week to "request" face
Even as pockets of resis- of staying neutral." far enough on the usage of coverings in stores where
tance remain, the tide Leslie Fay, 56, a service masks." "We think it is abso- there's no state or local
appears to be turning on coordinator for an aging lutely crucial that we listen mandate.
masks. Three out of four home services company, to our guests," Aron said. A Dollar Tree Inc. spokes-
Americans favor requiring said she was about to boy- The cascade of major re- man didn't respond to
people to wear face cov- cott Winn-Dixie when she tailers now instituting mask emails from The Associ-
erings while outside their heard about its initial deci- mandates has given previ- ated Press, but Saunders
homes, according to a sion to not require masks. ously reluctant small busi- believes the company re-
survey by The Associated "It set me off in the wrong nesses permission to do the alized its bare-bones staff
Press-NORC Center for Pub- direction to know that they same, says Michael Hicks, wouldn't be enough to po-
lic Affairs Research. Even were disregarding their em- economist at Ball State Uni- lice the rules. Others think
President Donald Trump ployees and customers," versity in Muncie, Indiana. that it wanted to siphon
has changed his stance af- said the Clearwater, Florida Still, small businesses don't away anti-mask customers
ter months of downplaying resident. "I'm glad they re- have the luxury of enforc- from Walmart and others.
the importance of masks versed it." ing nationwide policies A smattering of indepen-
and igniting a partisan cul- Southeastern Grocers, the and are more sensitive to dent shops and restaurants
tural war on the issue. parent company of Winn- the prevailing sentiment in throughout the country are
"Whether you like the mask Dixie, said that it initially their regions. And plenty of taking it upon themselves
or not, they have an im- rejected a mask mandate resistance from shoppers to put up signs that offer
pact," he said earlier this because it didn't want to remains, with viral videos unmasked customers an
week. put its workers in the posi- of mask-rule defiers con- excuse to skirt local rules by
As the number of new virus tion of policing shoppers. tinuing to surface on social pointing out federal health
cases have surged in a slew But it realized it needed to media. privacy laws that prohibit a
of states, particularly Flor- pay attention to the well- "There has been a trend business from asking about
ida, Texas, California and being of its customers, that has switched in favor medical conditions.
Arizona, national chains like workers and communities. of wearing masks," said "If we see you without a
Walmart, Target and most Winn-Dixie's 500 stores are Neil Saunders, managing mask, we will assume you
recently McDonald's are located in Mississippi, Ala- director of GlobalData Re- have a medical condi-
issuing mask mandates as bama, Louisiana and Geor- tail. "But there are people tion and we will welcome
health officials repeatedly gia in addition to Florida whose minds will still not be you inside to support our
advise that covering your — all states that are grap- changed by this. It's easy business," reads the sign
nose and mouth can be pling with rising coronavirus to put a policy in place. It's at Casey's Restaurant in
one of the most effective cases. much harder to enforce it Roseburg, Oregon, which
ways to reduce infections "We know masks play an and have your workers on raised more than $14,000
— itself a reversal of earlier important role in stopping the front lines." in a GoFundMe campaign
messaging at the begin- the spread of this virus, and In fact, the parent of Dollar launched in late May to
ning of the pandemic. we updated our policy Tree and Family Dollar went fight legal fines by the Oc-
"I believe brands need to to reflect that," said Joe in the opposite direction, cupational Safety and
pay attention to the new Caldwell, a spokesman loosening its mask restric- Health Administration for