GREENSBORO, N.C. — Masks are supposed to be worn in public places that are indoors-- like stores. You know this and yet 2 Wants To Know is getting complaints from you about Food Lion and shoppers without masks and no enforcement.
For example, here are two emails from your fellow viewers.
This one is from Keith.
“I shop at a local Food Lion and am quite upset by the number of people that come into the store without facemasks. When I asked the manager why no enforcement, she said corporate Food Lion told them not to as it was a request by the governor and not a mandate."
It sounded like a similar situation for Mary.
“I went to the Food Lion on West Market Street in Greensboro. I was appalled at the number of shoppers not wearing face coverings.
I went to the customer service desk, she said all the Food Lions are the same. She also said I could contact ‘corporate’ if I didn't like it."
2 Wants To Know did contact the Food Lion corporate office. This is the response.
“Food Lion continues to follow guidance from local, state, and national health authorities including the CDC. We are fully abiding by all government mandates related to COVID-19, and recommend that everyone in our community follows the CDC’s suggested practices to reduce the spread of the virus.
For the health and safety of our associates and customers, Food Lion will continue having our associates wear masks while working. Going forward, Food Lion is also asking customers to comply with all applicable mandates around mask usage in our stores. We will communicate the mask requirements through signage and via regular in-store announcements in all of our stores where this order applies. We will also respect the needs of our customers who are exempt from the order’s requirements.
Per the North Carolina mandate, Food Lion is in compliance with the mask requirement by having our associates wear face coverings and communicating to our customers about the requirement through store signage and via regular in-store announcements.
We will continue to follow professional guidance and take action to provide a safe and sanitary environment for our associates and customers.”
--Emma A. Inman, APR Director, External Communications
The keywords to 2WTK were “Going forward” and “We will” in the second paragraph. Keith, Mary, and others who emailed us let us know if going forward Food Lion makes good on their promise to ask customers to comply.