Dollar Tree, Family Dollar reverse mask mandate, no longer require masks for shoppers

Dollar Tree and Family Dollar will no longer require customers to wear masks, reversing an earlier mandate. But employees and those living in places with local mask mandates will still have to don a face covering.

On July 8, Dollar Tree, which also owns Family Dollar, posted that it would require all shoppers, workers and vendors to wear cloth face coverings inside stores, USA Today reported.

In an update to the stores’ coronavirus response policy posted July 16, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar now say they “request that our customers wear face coverings.”

Customers are still required to wear masks in Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores located where local governments have mandated masks be worn in public, the company said.

Masks are also still required to be worn by Dollar Tree workers, the company said.

The move comes after a handful of retailers including Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS and Kohl’s said they would require shoppers to wear masks in their stores.

In a reversal of its own, Winn-Dixie said Monday that it would require masks for shoppers beginning July 27, CBS News reported.

Previously, the retailer’s parent company Southeastern Grocers said it would not require customers to wear masks, according to the outlet.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged Americans to don cloth face masks, calling the practice “critical” in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

This story was originally published July 21, 2020 at 8:25 AM with the headline "Dollar Tree, Family Dollar reverse mask mandate, no longer require masks for shoppers."