(photo/Walmart.com)Posted by The Huron Hub
Sunday, March 5, 2020-8:20AM EST
Walmart is joining a growing list of retailers nationwide who are limiting the number of customers allowed in stores during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Starting April 4, Walmart will limit the number of customers who can be in a store at once.
Stores will allow no more than five customers for each 1,000 square feet at a given time, roughly 20 percent of a store’s capacity.
Walmart said to manage this restriction, the associates at a store will mark a queue at a single-entry door (in most cases the grocery entrance) and direct arriving customers there, where they will be admitted one-by-one and counted.
Associates and signage will remind customers of the importance of social distancing while they’re waiting to enter a store – especially before it opens in the morning.
Once a store reaches its capacity, customers will be admitted inside on a “1-out-1-in” basis.
Shopping Inside the Store
Walmart said it will also institute one-way movement through our aisles next week in a number of our stores, using floor markers and direction from associates.
“We expect this to help more customers avoid coming into close contact with others as they shop,” the company said in a statement.
“We’ll continue to put signage inside our stores to remind customers of the need to maintain social distancing – especially in lines. And once customers check out, they will be directed to exit through a different door than they entered, which should help lessen the instances of people closely passing each other. 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.”
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