Staying Fit
Several of the nation’s largest retail chains revised their mask policies in the wake of late-July guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 should cover their faces in indoor public spaces, but those changes have primarily affected employees, not shoppers.
Major retailers such as Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Walgreens, CVS, Home Depot and Target allow fully inoculated customers — those who are two weeks past receiving their second Pfizer or Moderna dose or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine — to shop mask-free as long as doing so does not violate state or local face-covering mandates.
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Most big chains dropped mask mandates for vaccinated people after the CDC said in May that those who’d gotten the shots could safely forego face-covering in public places. The federal health agency revised its recommendations two months later as the coronavirus delta variant fueled a fresh COVID-19 surge, but stores have largely continued to encourage, but not require, vaccinated customers to mask up.
However, many stores have reinstituted face-covering mandates for their workers, regardless of vaccination status, especially in areas hard-hit by the delta and omicron surges. (You can use an interactive tool on the CDC’s website to check the transmission level in your county.)
The 10 largest retailers in the U.S., and most of the top 40, as ranked by the National Retail Federation (NRF) based on sales, implemented face-covering mandates in the spring and summer of 2020. Here are those companies’ current mask policies. Store numbers are from the NRF, as of 2020.
Walmart
NRF rank: 1
U.S. stores: 5,253 (including Sam's Club)
The company’s most recent announcement on store safety, dated Dec. 1, reiterates a requirement imposed four months earlier that employees at Walmart and Sam's Club stores in areas rated by the CDC wear masks on duty. The nation’s largest retailer ended face-covering requirements for fully vaccinated customers in May.
Amazon
NRF rank: 2
U.S. stores: 523
Amazon-owned Whole Foods Market, the e-commerce giant’s biggest brick-and-mortar offshoot, mandates masks only for “customers and team members in our stores with a local or state government mandate requiring them,” according to updated guidance on its COVID-19 response page.
Kroger
NRF rank: 3
U.S. stores: 2,922
The country’s largest supermarket company, which includes Kroger, Harris Teeter, Fred Meyer and other chains, lifted its mask mandate for fully vaccinated customers on May 20. Face coverings are required for store employees. “We strongly encourage all individuals, including those who are vaccinated, to wear a mask when in our stores and facilities," the company said in recently updating its mask policy.
Home Depot
NRF rank: 4
U.S. stores: 1,974
Citing the spread of the delta variant, the home-improvement giant reinstituted a mask requirement Aug. 2 for "all associates, contractors and vendors" at its U.S. stores. "We’ll ask customers to wear masks while in our stores and continue to offer masks to those who don’t have one," the company said in an update on its COVID-19 response.
Costco
NRF rank: 5
U.S. stores: 548
The members-only warehouse club “strongly recommends” customers wear masks inside stores but requires it only where state or local face-covering mandates apply, according to a Dec. 29 update to its coronavirus response page. Costco lifted its its chainwide mask requirement in May 2021, a year after it became the first major national retailer to institute a mask rule.
Walgreens
NRF rank: 6
U.S. stores: 8,760
In August, the nation's biggest drugstore chain reinstated a mask requirement for all employees, regardless of vaccination status. The company encourages customers to mask up in stores but has not required it since May 2021.
Target
NRF rank: 7
U.S. stores: 1,897
The retailer dropped a mask mandate for store employees Feb. 21. “As COVID-19 cases continue to decline across the country, Target will not require our U.S. team members or guests to wear masks, as local regulations allow,” the company says on its updated coronavirus FAQs.
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