Until last week, retailers assumed their pandemic safety protocols were in place.
But, in an announcement that surprised many, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on May 13 fully vaccinated people did not need masks, indoors or outdoors, in most situations. Meanwhile, New York partially lifted its mask mandate on Wednesday, joining states like Texas and Florida that did so a few weeks ago. In the UK, most lockdown restrictions are expected to be lifted on June 21, although the government has yet to say whether mask requirements will be one of them.
For retailers, this creates new complications. Throughout the pandemic, they were able to point the finger at government regulations forcing people to wear masks in stores, a requirement that protected the health of customers and employees that was unpopular with some buyers. This conversation becomes more difficult if consumers interpret last week’s announcements to mean that masks are no longer needed for those vaccinated.
And even if that were the case, store workers have no easy way to enforce a more nuanced mask policy. At the start of the pandemic, associates from shoe brand stores like Skechers to large retailers like Target made the headlines after being physically assaulted while attempting to enforce evolving mask guidelines.
“The question I constantly get from many retailers is, ‘How do we know if someone is fully vaccinated? And ‘is it even safe for me to ask for documentation, given the way people [sometimes] react?’ Said Blythe Adamson, an epidemiologist and economist who has helped retailers reopen amid the pandemic.
The landscape has changed: Masks are no longer a new thing, and many stores have invested in everything from disinfection stations and thermometers to signage and personal protective equipment to help employees and customers stay safe. Still, some establishments have reluctantly followed local mask requirements and are as eager to throw face coverings aside as some shoppers.
Regardless, many retailers are not yet ready to change course.
Jessica Richards, founder of Shen, a beauty store in Brooklyn, said she and her five sales floor associates would continue to ask customers to leave the store if they refused to wear a face covering – although ‘she said that hadn’t really been a problem. in his part of the country. About 44% of New York state residents are fully immunized, compared to a national average of 38%.
“I have no problem asking people to leave the store if they [refuse to comply] – those customers who don’t want to wear a mask are not the buyers of Shen, ”she said.
In Idaho, where the vaccination rate is around 36% and resistance to masks and injections is more prevalent, Marie Widmyer, owner of women’s clothing stores Marmalade and Marie’s Boutique, said she did not had never required employees or buyers to wear masks. Instead, she encourages social distancing, where possible, and has asked her employees to follow shoppers’ lead.
“I say [store associates] to smell our shoppers – if the customer is wearing a mask, ‘you should put one on to make them feel comfortable in our store,’ ”she said, adding that around 50 percent of her employees are fully vaccinated.
Whether or not state regulations and CDC guidelines change, Marmalade and Marie’s Boutique will continue with the system in place for at least the next 30 days.
In the UK, where around 37 million people, or 31% of the population, are fully vaccinated, store owners are monitoring any changes to government masking guidelines, but some have said they are also few likely to make sudden changes to their existing protocols.
“I fully understand the eagerness of people who want to get back to normal life and forget the year we just lived and believe that we are really, for the first time after all these months, coming out of it all,” said Stavros Karelis, purchasing manager of Machine-A, a unisex clothing and accessories store in London. “But I think we all have to [continue to] have a little patience and take the right steps to protect everyone for the [long-term]. “
I fully understand the eagerness of people who want to resume a normal life and forget the year we have just lived.
Machine-A staff will continue to wear masks and demand the same from buyers, many of whom are Gen Z and Millennials who are not yet qualified for the UK vaccination. (In England, only people aged 36 or older are eligible for vaccines.)
“We also have a lot of international travelers in our stores and it’s way too complicated at the moment of [try to police vaccinations],” he added.
A new era of hygiene
For many fashion companies, the safety changes brought on by the pandemic are not easily undone and some are seeing benefits even beyond the current health crisis.
Shen’s Richards had planned to move to a new space before the pandemic and considers it a fluke that the move happened during the health crisis, as it meant she could build the store with a “sanitary air system” , a dedicated sink for hand washing and other Covid-era safety measures.
Companies like Nike have similarly designed their new outposts with Covid-19 user-friendly features such as “guided lighting” to encourage social distancing. And even if the coronavirus pandemic becomes a thing of the past, experts like Adamson warn that more health crises could arise and that there is little downside to maintaining ‘better air quality’ and some distancing social in confined spaces in the future.
Any investment made by a retailer should be made with the understanding that Covid-19 policies are dynamic.
The touch beauty industry, for example, was motivated by the pandemic to address long-standing hygiene issues, Richards said.
“Beauty is incredibly sensory, and in retail people have [always wanted] to try, test, experience and feel the product, ”she said.
To allow people to test the products, Richards said they created “painter’s palettes” where “we take a little bit of the product and put it on and we give it to the customer and they use biodegradable bamboo makeup brushes to try it out. “She does not plan to abandon this solution after the Covid-19.
Likewise, Adamson said she is encouraging retailers to maintain masking requirements for employees for now. In the long run, however, she advises leaders not to “cling too tightly to a specific policy” as circumstances are likely to continue to change.
“Any investment a retailer makes should be made knowing that Covid-19 policies are dynamic and that the CDC could change its mask guidelines, again, or roll it back. [completely] or change it at any time, ”she said.
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