Customers navigate the new barricade and exit the Ark City Walmart Friday afternoon. Starting Saturday, Walmart stores across the country will institute new entry protocols to limit the number of customers who can come into the store in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. (Photos by Brady Bauman)
The barricades of shopping carts and tape at Ark City and Winfield Walmart stores are no accident, according to a corporate press release Friday.
The measures are an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Starting Saturday, Walmart stores will limit the number of customers who can be in a store at once. Stores will now allow no more than five customers for each 1,000 square feet at a given time, roughly 20 percent of a store’s capacity.
“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,” the press release said. “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.”
To manage this restriction, Walmart associates 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.
Some Walmart stores will also institute one-way movement through its aisles next week, using floor markers and direction from associates, in an effort to help more customers avoid coming into close contact with others as they shop.
Shopping carts create a barricade to keep customers farther away from each other inside the Ark City Walmart entrance Friday.
And along with markers on the floor for lines at the cashier that designate 6-feet of distance, once customers check out, they will be directed to exit through a different door than they entered, which Walmart says 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,” the release said. “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.”
Walmart’s full release can be read here.
