Walmart Informs Parish President Thomas of New Practices

Dear Parish President Thomas,

As the COVID-19 situation continues to develop, Walmart’s focus remains on the health and safety of our associates, customers and communities. I wanted to share with you the latest measures we’ve taken in our U.S. stores to promote health, safety and consistency in this environment, including regulating store entry and changes to the shopping process inside our stores.

Starting Saturday, April 4, we 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. Once a store reaches its capacity, customers will be admitted inside on a “1-out-1-in” basis.

Also, we will institute one-way movement through our aisles next week in a number of our stores, using floor markers and direction from associates. We expect this to help more customers avoid coming into close contact with others as they shop.

Key Measures:

• To manage the store capacity restriction, associates at a store 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.
• Earlier this week, stores began using a single entrance and a single exit at all locations. This is designed to help prevent people from entering and exiting the same door at the same time.
• We have also established queue lines that are staffed with associates and emphasized social distancing signage to remind customers how important it is to stay 6 feet apart.

Thanks,
Tice White
Director
Walmart - Public Affairs