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GameStop Asks All Customers To Wear Masks, But Won't Enforce The Rule
GameStop announced today that it’s requiring all customers to wear face masks in its U.S. stores, but employees are reportedly being told they can’t actually enforce the policy. The retailer has been publicly struggling financially for the past few years and recent missteps have soured its image even more.
Early on in the coronavirus lockdown, GameStop tried to evade shutdown orders by classifying its stores as essential, in what would become just the first of many controversies to follow. The retailer later implemented contactless delivery to try to keep stores open, eventually being forced by Boston authorities to close all of its locations in the state of Massachusetts. Even after it closed many of its stores, GameStop ordered stores reopened in April, while recommendations from governments and healthcare experts still said it was too early to resume non-essential business activity.
Now, GameStop is taking a public step toward treating the COVID-19 pandemic more seriously, but it seems to be sending a different message behind closed doors. In a press release today, GameStop announced that it will require shoppers in all of its U.S. locations to wear face masks starting on July 27th, calling it “the right thing to do.” However, Vice Games reports that the company is telling employees that they’re not allowed to enforce the new policy. Vice Games says the workers have been issued a memo informing them to offer complimentary masks to anyone not wearing one and make them aware of options like curbside pick-up that can keep them from having to come inside. After that, though, they’re told not to refuse service to anyone not wearing a mask or ask them to leave, but instead “complete their transaction as quickly as possible.”
GameStop’s two-faced approach may not be as surprising to its employees as it is from the outside. Well before the pandemic, GameStop employees reported an increasingly stressful work environment, with management pushing aggressive sales tactics and issuing harsh punishments for not hitting goals. It’s clear that the retailer is getting desperate, having lost nearly $700 million in 2018 and closing hundreds of stores in 2019.
The press release from GameStop today seemed to signal that the retailer was finally starting to take COVID-19 seriously, but it didn’t take long for that illusion to be shattered. Publicly urging people to wear masks and practice social distancing is an important step, but if employees are still made to put themselves in danger rather than risk a sale, it’s hardly different from doing nothing.
