Attention Walmart Shoppers: Starting Wednesday you need to wear a mask to enter Canadian stores. By now, most shoppers have heard the new rule is coming and not everyone is pleased about it.
The small sampling of customers who spoke with KelownaNow this morning suggests shoppers are split on the subject and some are actually quite angry about it.
For every shopper that supports Walmart Canada's decision to require masks in stores, there seems to be another who opposes it.
That's the impression we were left with after spending some time speaking with shoppers outside the Kelowna Walmart Tuesday.
"I actually went and spoke to the manager," said one shopper who disapproves of the new policy. "I said okay, so if I come tomorrow will you escort me off the property?"
Another shopper said that's exactly she plans to do just to see how serious Walmart is about its policy. "They might say I can't come in. So okay fine," she told KelownaNow. "That's their prerogative."
One woman told KelownaNow, she's stocking up today because she won't return once the policy is in place. "I can't breathe with it," she said.
Still, there remains a lot of support for the policy. "I think it's a very good, very safe thing," said one shopper who was there with his own mask.
"I think it's totally appropriate," said another.
The mask rule will be in force at all of the more than 400 Walmart stores in Canada.
Walmart points out that 60% of its stores are in areas where local rules already mandate the wearing of masks.
The company points to Health Canada, in announcing the new policy. The agency has said that when worn properly, a mask can help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
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