Winn-Dixie shoppers will be required to wear face masks after all.
The supermarket’s parent company Southeastern Grocer changed its position on face coverings, CBS News reports.
After announcing it would not require shoppers to wear masks, the store opted to join other major retailers that are mandating masks to help stop the spread of coronavirus.
Customers will have to wear masks before they enter any of the chain’s 550 stores in seven states beginning on Monday.
"The majority of our stores are under either a local or state government mandate, and given the continued rise of positive COVID cases in our communities across the Southeast, beginning Monday, July 27, we will be requiring masks to be worn by customers to help reduce the spread of the disease," a spokesperson said in an email to CBS News.
"We believe that the enforcement should be placed upon our state and federally elected officials, and we will continue to work with our peers in the retail industry to advocate for this sensible mandate to be passed into law to remove the burden from employers and their heroic frontline associates,” the spokesperson wrote.
The company previously stated it wouldn’t require customers to wear masks as a way to avoid any conflict between employees and shoppers.
Southeastern Grocers also has changed its stance on employees wearing face coverings. Now, employees must wear masks at work. Previously, masks were voluntary for staff.
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