Here in Washington State and across the nation, the health and safety of employees and customers is the number one priority of retailers.

As we continue to serve our customers, we’re depending upon shoppers to help us remain safe and tame the coronavirus by wearing facial coverings when visiting our stores. The health of our economy rests upon our willingness to do all that we can to reduce infections.

That’s why Washington Retail is a partner in the Stay Safe Washington pledge for customers to join with businesses in urging widespread use of masks. Everyone can win if we all mask up.

As we pull together to defeat the virus, many national retailers including Walmart, Amazon, Kroger (Fred Meyer), Target, Walgreens, Home Depot, Costco and others have stepped up by requiring customers to wear face masks in stores not only in Washington but around the country. Right now most of the nation’s 40 largest retail chains have implemented or are in the process of implementing chainwide mask mandates. Some, such as Target, report compliance ranging from 95% to 99%.

The shutdowns led to record state unemployment while scores of retailers closed for good. We simply can’t afford to lock our doors again. The risk of rolling back or slowing future reopening of our economy would be devastating to our communities and the businesses they have come to love.