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Dollar Tree, Family Dollar Will Now Require Masks Again: What You Need to Know

This is the second time the company has reversed course.

By Katie Abel

Katie Abel

Executive Editor

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August 10, 2020 6:34 pm

Outside a Dollar Tree store in Orem, Utah.

Kristoffer Tripplaar/AP

Dollar Tree is reversing course again on its mask policy — and will now require shoppers to wear masks.

“To best help protect one another, and in accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we are requiring all associates, customers and vendors to wear face coverings when inside our stores,” the retailer said in an updated statement on its website.

This is the second time the company has changed the rules. On July 23, Dollar Tree and its sister chain, Family Dollar, said it would no longer mandate customers to wear face coverings as they shop in the stores. Instead, it would only “request” that they use masks as a safety precaution amid the spread of the coronavirus.

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 11: People shop in a dollar store on December 11, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. As the income gap between rich and poor continues to grow, dollar and 99 cent stores have become increasingly popular in both urban and rural America. Dollar General, one of several discount retail chains, has become one of the fastest growing retailers in the U.S. According to the Institute for Local Self Reliance, there are now over 30,000 dollar stores in the U.S., up from around 18,000 a decade ago. Dollar General and Dollar Tree alone are expected to have 50k stores in the next few years. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

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At the time, the company said it would still require face coverings where mandated by state and local ordinances.

The Chesapeake, Va.-based business had implemented face mask requirements at its locations for two weeks before it shifted the policy the first time. Now it is reversing the late July decision and going back to its previous stance.

The recent surge in coronavirus cases has led big-box retailers Walmart and Target, department stores Kohl’s and Nordstrom, and specialty chains American Eagle and Gap to implement requirements for face masks at their units.

Skechers last month issued a response following an incident during which a customer who refused to wear a face mask while shopping in one of its stores threw shoe boxes at employees.

In a statement to FN, president Michael Greenberg wrote that the video of the shopper, which was circulated on social media and garnered national attention, was “troubling.” He added that the company continues to “stand firm” on face mask requirements at its locations as part of its COVID-19-related safety precautions.

“We understand that these are frustrating and alarming times, and not everyone is comfortable with the new way we have to operate,” he said. “But this kind of aggression toward one of our team members is unacceptable and inappropriate.”

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