Coronavirus in Charlotte: Are people wearing masks in stores? We went to 75 to find out

Across Charlotte and the rest of North Carolina this week, many retailers were reopening and welcoming back customers, as the novel coronavirus restrictions for the state began to ease.

All retail stores can now operate, as long as they do so at half capacity and follow cleaning and social distancing guidelines under Gov. Roy Cooper’s stay-at-home order.

The first phase of his reopening plan began May 8. But what did that look like in the Charlotte area?

Would people stuck at home for weeks be eager to venture out and shop? Would employees and customers wear masks, a crucial — but not mandatory — step to slow the spread of the lethal COVID-19? And were social distancing six feet apart and other safety measures in place?

To help answer these questions, a team of Observer reporters, editors and videographers fanned out across the Charlotte region to check out 75 stores big and small, from mom-and-pops to national chains, from Book Buyers on The Plaza to the Walmart in Huntersville.

We walked unannounced into stores from Monday through Wednesday to observe what was happening, a snapshot in time for when shopping was allowed beyond essential needs.

In Cornelius, we saw a customer arrive at an Ace Hardware on a bicycle, wipe his nose on his wrist then walk in without a mask. Over at O’Reilly Auto Parts on Wilkinson Boulevard, they used yellow caution tape to keep patrons about a foot away from the checkout counter.

And at Best Buy’s north Charlotte store, workers let customers in only if they knew what they were looking for.

Here’s what else we found from our informal survey:

▪ In more than half the businesses, not all employees wore masks. Malls had the highest percentage of all workers with masks on, in 12 of the 14 stores we visited.

▪ In nearly 1 in 5 businesses, all customers wore masks. But at 40% of the locations, less than half of the customers had them on.

▪ In more than half the stores, we found examples of people not social distancing.

▪ Most businesses had markers outside or near the checkout to keep customers apart, while over half had sneeze guards or Plexiglas shields at the checkout counter.

▪ And a third of the businesses had hand sanitizer or wipes for people as they entered the store.

‘Keep my germs to myself’

Masks or face coverings are not required by local or state officials, although Cooper’s order recommended face coverings in public spaces when six feet of distancing isn’t possible.

But some retailers want customers as well as workers to wear masks. The Costco at Tyvola Road provided them to people, as did International Supermarket at Asian Corner Mall on North Tryon Street.

At Concord Mills, Edge, Nautica and Simply Southern clothing stores have signs asking customers to wear masks. However, for most shops, mask usage was mixed.

In the Dollar General on Albemarle Road, the clerk did not wear a mask nor did most customers. The company provides masks and gloves for employees but does not require them, according to its website.

Joyce Perry of Charlotte was still wearing her mask after leaving Dollar General. “I do it to keep my germs to myself,” she said.

Perry said she felt safe in the store because the clerk was aware of social distancing and told the cop behind her to back up to the line on the floor.

Mask differences

Where stores don’t require employees to wear masks, most seem to allow that option along with other personal protection.

At QuikTrip in Matthews, one cashier wore gloves and a mask although an employee at the food counter had neither. Red stickers on the ground marked social distancing.

Over at Great Harvest Bread Company on Rea Road, none of the three clerks working near each other wore masks Monday afternoon.

Culinary Director Sandra Mallut said as of Wednesday, all employees are required to wear masks and gloves. She said it’s been hard to get a supply of masks in and when the air conditioning broke down for a couple days at the Rea Road shop, it wasn’t ideal to push wearing masks.

And at Concord Mills’ Bass Pro Shops, three employees sported masks, with one wearing it under his nose.

There were floor markers and plastic shields at registers and the rifle counter, but not in the fishing area, which was a busy spot Tuesday afternoon. Hand sanitizer was available at counters, with signs encouraging people to use it.

A ‘social distancing captain’

Many stores have floor markers for one-way aisles, sneeze guards at checkout and sanitation wipes.

Trek Bicycle Store near Northlake Mall placed social distancing circles outside the entrance to let people in one by one. Few of the 18 or so customers were wearing masks and none of the employees had them. A bottle of hand sanitizer was available to customers at the register.

At Home Depot on North Wendover Road, the store felt crowded, even though it was a weekday mid-afternoon.

While some customers made no effort to social distance, a couple employees stood close to individual customers to talk to them as they looked for items. There was a sign near the door for complimentary sanitizing wipes but it was out of the way, hard to see and empty.

The company has implemented measures to promote physical and social distancing, including limiting the number of customers allowed inside to avoid crowds, spokeswoman Christina Glowacki-Cornell said. Home Depot also has a designated “social distancing captain.”

Customer limits

In west Charlotte, Beatties Ford Road Hardware has remained open throughout the coronavirus crisis. Only 15 customers are allowed in at a time, owner Orgire McCoy said, and they are “usually scattered throughout the store.”

She has a mask, but doesn’t always wear it because it’s hard for her to breathe with it on. No employees wore one.

Of about 15 customers who came by the store, only one wore a face covering.

Footlocker at SouthPark mall has a 10-customer limit. An employee stood at the entrance allowing customers in. Still it was difficult to maintain social distancing while walking around the aisles.

Over at Sam’s Xpress Car Wash in Mint Hill, cones blocked every other vacuum bay so customers could maintain social distancing.

Slow traffic

Many stores we visited had fewer shoppers than usual. At some places, we were the only customers, including Uniquities clothing store on South Boulevard.

Even the malls lacked heavy foot traffic. Abercrombie & Fitch at SouthPark mall has capacity for 35 but just five customers when we visited Wednesday afternoon. Many stores were closed.

Umesh Pandey, who works at cell phone accessories store Device Doctor at Concord Mills, said Tuesday it hadn’t been busy since the mall reopened May 9. That was the biggest day with about 10 customers compared to usually more than 100 in the store before the virus struck.

Of the more than 200 shops at Concord Mills, less than 60 were open Tuesday. Several larger retailers like JCPenney, Kohl’s, Hot Topic and Bath & Body Works remain closed at shopping centers nationwide.

Department stores

Changes were noticeable at department stores, too.

In Southpark, Charlotte-based Belk removed beauty testers and displays, with a sign telling customers to ask a worker for help with a touch-free experience.

Marshalls stores had floor markers for distancing leading to checkout. But in the Rivergate store in Steele Creek, customers weren’t social distancing until they got closer to the register.

Across town in the north Charlotte Marshalls, aisles were marked as one way and all employees wore masks. About half the customers were wearing face coverings, although a group of three guests roamed the store without masks.

Chain store differences

We found differences between stores in the same chain.

At the Family Dollar on South Boulevard, two of four customers wore masks, as did a clerk at the register.

But at Family Dollar on Beatties Ford Road, a clerk wasn’t wearing a mask although there was a sneeze guard at the register. Half of the customers there wore face coverings and followed social distancing. “Everyone was respectful of spacing,” said customer Helen Duran of Charlotte.

Between the O’Reilly Auto Parts on Wilkinson Boulevard and the one on North Tryon Street, just one worker wore a mask during our visits and the majority of customers did not.

The Tryon store marked the floor leading to the registers for social distancing, but not so at Wilkinson. There were no floor markings at that register, the store with the yellow tape near the checkout counter.

At the Walgreens on Providence Road almost every customer was wearing a mask. In the West Mallard Creek Church Road Walgreen’s, about half of the eight customers did.

Most employees wore masks at both locations. At Mallard Creek Church, however, a clerk at the register had a mask around his chin but not on his face while he waited on customers.

Walgreens provides and requires workers to wear face coverings. When asked about the Mallard Creek Church store, spokeswoman Alex Brown said Friday, “We have reinforced our policy with our team members,” Walgreens.

Grocery stores

Throughout the coronavirus crisis, grocery stores were allowed to stay open as essential businesses and helped lead the way with safety measures, like Plexiglas at checkout and one-way aisles.

Grocers also have begun requiring workers to wear masks, a step that Matthews-based Harris Teeter took in late April.

In the Harris Teeter on Sardis Road North this week, one of the employees was not wearing a mask when he left the fresh meat department. Some customers with masks had them pulled down under their nose or mouth.

At the University area Trader Joe’s, an employee stood at the entrance handing out wipes near signs that told people, “Give space to others & avoid congested aisles.”

In the Eastway Drive Food Lion, many people didn’t notice or ignored directional aisle signs Wednesday afternoon. However, the wide aisles helped keep the space from becoming congested.

While International Supermarket on North Tryon Street requires workers and asks customers to wear masks, social distancing was lacking because of narrow aisles. One employee walked by closely with his mask around his chin, and customers got close to one another.

Two Publix stores — one on Brentwood Road and the other on Benfield Road — and Lidl on Monroe Road had workers dedicated to sanitizing carts between customers.

At Compare Foods on North Tryon Street, one employee pulled down his mask to speak to an unmasked customer at close range then turned and spoke to a nearby co-worker. Many customers were not distancing and made it difficult to get away from others at times.

Manager Martin Tatia said the store is cleaned throughout the day and sanitized nightly after closing. Employees have to wear a mask and gloves, he said. Signs also are posted throughout the stores telling people to maintain six feet of social distancing.

Measures at malls

In SouthPark mall on Wednesday, signs at the main entrances and individual stores encouraged face coverings and social distancing. After our loop around the mall, it appeared that almost all store employees wore masks, but fewer than half the customers did.

At Concord Mills, nearly all store workers wore masks Tuesday afternoon. Request boutique and Diamond District even kept their storefront metal gates down until a customer wanted to come in.

Michelle Saldana, an employee at All On Target indoor airsoft shooting range, is required to wear a mask. “We’re sanitizing after each customer,” she said. “I feel safe in this environment as we get back to normal.”

Elsewhere in the mall, 21-year-old customer Trevin Hargers of Statesville was wearing a mask but his friend, Montay Summers, 20, didn’t. Said Summers, “I feel safe as long as you social distance. I think everything should be back open.”

Staff writers Alex Andrejev, Taylor Batten, Adam Bell, Rick Bonnell, Danielle Chemtob, Sherry Chisenhall, Fred Clasen-Kelly, Anna Douglas, Scott Fowler, Michael Gordon, Bruce Henderson, Théoden Janes, Lauren Lindstrom, Annie Ma, Joseph Marusak, Doug Miller, Jim Morrill, Melissa Oyler, David Scott, Hannah Smoot, Austin Weintstein, Langston Wertz Jr. and Amanda Zhou contributed.

This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 4:48 PM.