Walmart Store Entry Policy
According to social media, people are still shopping at Walmart and not just for the essentials. There are numerous people complaining, including Walmart employees, about how people are meandering through the aisles. Others are shopping in large groups, bringing everyone and their family and not observing the social distancing recommendation of six feet.
So, in an effort to protect both their customers and their associates health, Walmart will start regulating store entry TOMORROW, April 4, 2020. Every Walmart will limit entry to five customers or less per 1,000 square feet. This means the store will not have more than 20% occupancy at once.
How will the new entry police be implemented? Walmart will limit its stores to a single point of entry, most likely the grocery entrance. Associates will direct customers to a line, and they will be counted as they enter. Once a store reaches its capacity, customers will be admitted inside on a “1-out-1-in” basis.
Changes Inside The Store
In order to improve social distancing, Walmart is marking the floors so the aisles will have only one way of traffic flow. After checkout customers will exit out a separate door.
Walmart Prioritizes Safety
In this taxing and uncertain time, our associates have gone above and beyond to help Americans get the food, medicine and supplies they need.
We care deeply about our associates’ health and well-being, and in recent weeks we’ve taken steps such as expanding our paid leave policies; closing our stores overnight for cleanings and restocking; installing sneeze guards and social distance markers in stores; beginning temperature checks; and starting to make gloves and masks available to associates who want them.
While many of our customers have been following the advice of the medical community regarding social distancing and safety, we have been concerned to still see some behaviors in our stores that put undue risk on our people. We want to encourage customers to bring the fewest number of people per family necessary to shop, allow for space with other customers while shopping, and practice social distancing while waiting in lines. We’re also seeing states and municipalities set varying policies regarding crowd control – which has created some confusion regarding shopping.
Our associates’ and customers’ safety are everything to us. From new store hours, to cleaning, sanitizing, and the 6’ rule, Walmart Radio DJs are breaking it down for you. pic.twitter.com/1gXMxtvzSi
— Walmart (@Walmart) April 2, 2020
We always want people to feel welcome at Walmart, and we know that in ordinary times a store is a gathering place for members of a community to connect and socialize. We look forward to the time when that is again the case; however, we now want to prioritize health and safety by encouraging customers to do their shopping at a distance from others, then head home.
As the COVID-19 situation continues to develop, our leaders and operations teams will continue to listen to advice from medical experts, associates and customers, and consider how we can best serve people while helping slow the spread of the virus. The health and safety of our associates and customers is what matters the most.
