HOUSTON — Shoppers heading to their local Walmart store may be met with closed doors in the Houston area.
Editor's note: The video on this page reports on the recent announcement that all Walmart stores across the country will require customers to wear masks
Company spokeswoman Anne Hatfield confirms to KHOU 11 News that two local stores are temporarily closed and will not reopen until Friday morning so the businesses can be cleaned and sanitized:
"As a proactive measure, we decided to temporarily close our store at 3450 FM 1960 Rd W and at 2727 Dunvale Rd to the public Wednesday afternoon, July 15 and all day Thursday, July 16 as part of a company-initiated program. This will allow extra time for a third-party specialist to further sanitize the store. It will also give our associates additional time to restock shelves and prepare the store to serve the community once again. We plan to reopen the store to customers at 7 a.m. on Friday, July 17."
When the locations reopen, they will continue to require employee temperature checks and face masks, among other measures.
"These protocols are in addition to the extensive measures we’ve put in place during the past several weeks to help protect our associates and customers, including installing sneeze guards at registers, limiting the number of customers in a store at any one time, enacting one-way aisle shopping, placing social distancing signage, and enacting an emergency leave policy for associates who are unable or uncomfortable coming to work," stated Hatfield.
Hatfield also stated the company is aware the Harris County area has especially been hit hard by the coronavirus.
On Wednesday, the company announced that customers would also soon be required to wear face coverings at all Walmart and Sam's Club locations across the country.