Businesses in Austin now to require all customers wear face-coverings

One business in downtown Austin already requires masks, and also has implemented other safety steps as well.

AUSTIN, Texas - As the city of Austin moves to make face-coverings a requirement for all customers inside businesses starting Tuesday, Toy Joy in Downtown Austin says they've already implemented that policy as well as many others.

"We took a couple weeks before being allowed to open to see what those should be and seeing what the safest is for our employees and customers," brand director Robby Pettinato said.

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At Toy Joy, customers should expect to go through some safety steps before shopping, including wearing a mask while inside the store. Hand sanitizer is required as customers walk through the door, arrows on the ground show the flow to walk through the store and only small groups are allowed in at a time.

"These are strange times and it's just something we have to do, if we want to allow people in here, we have to make really important and hard decisions on how to allow people to have any type of enjoyable experience here," Pettinato said.

They say they've gotten some pushback from customers not wanting to wear facemasks inside. "We are okay with losing that small portion of business if that means my employees are safe and our customers are safe," Pettinato said.

He added that hopefully the new mandate from Mayor Adler will bring some ease. "We are really happy that the mayor was able to push this through along with the other mayors across Texas to allow the city to have a say in this because it is less arguing with the customers walking in because they should be expecting to have to follow these policies," he said.

Other stores, like H-E-B, also have safety policies in place. In a statement to FOX 7 Austin, the Texas-based grocery chain said in part, "All H-E-B and Central Market stores in the city of Austin, as well as Travis and Hays counties, will require customers to wear face masks."

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The store also says they will have a limited supply of face coverings in the first few days for customers who may be unaware of the new rule.

READ H-E-B'S FULL STATEMENT BELOW:

H-E-B fully supports our local government officials and their dedication to keeping the health and safety of residents a top priority. Effective Monday June 22nd, in collaboration and compliance with local orders, H-E-B and Central Market stores in the City of Austin as well as Travis and Hays Counties will require all customers to wear masks or facial coverings. H-E-B continues to require the use of masks or facial coverings by all of our Partners and vendors. Beginning on Monday, through the first several days of the transition, we will have a limited supply of free masks available for customers that may arrive unaware of the new mask mandates. We want to thank our H-E-B customers for the great job they’ve been doing in wearing masks in our stores. The CDC and State health officials strongly support the use of facial coverings in public as a proven way to slow the spread of COVID-19.

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