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Bloomberg
The top two trade groups representing major retailers such as Walmart Inc, Target Corp and Best Buy Co are calling on governors to adopt uniform reopening standards as the pandemic subsides, including allowing warehouses and distribution centers nationwide to reopen all at once, rather than state-by-state.
As states, cities, and companies big and small struggle over when and how to restart the economy, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and the National Retail Federation have some ideas.
They sent a six-page memo to governors outlining a three-phased plan for how stores could maintain public safety once they are allowed to reopen their doors to
customers.
The guidelines call for stores to have “robust†health and safety protocols in place, including sanitation and social-distancing procedures.
Measures include ensuring regular handwashing, use of gloves and face masks to protect customers and employees, in addition to limiting occupancy in some cases “to no more than 5 customers per 1,000 square feet of shopping space,†or half the national fire code requirement.
The retailers recommend that stores defer to governors on timing. States have been making those decisions by evaluating whether the number of new infections is declining and whether testing is adequate to prevent upticks in new cases.
“The governors have a difficult decision ahead of them,†RILA president Brian Dodge said in an interview.
“We want to demonstrate to them that when they decide to restart the economy in their states that retailers are prepared†to keep their customers safe.