Are Kansas City area stores COVID-19 safe? We visit 50 in five counties to find out

After more than two months of forced closure because of COVID-19, stores throughout the Kansas City area have once again begun swinging open their doors.

Customers, while not flooding into box stores or mom-and-pop shops, are slowly trickling back in, although many with one worrisome question in mind.

Is it safe?

How thoroughly are customers — and employees — being protected from the spreading coronavirus?

To find out, The Star this past week dispatched six reporters to the five prime counties in the Kansas City area: Johnson, Wyandotte, Jackson, Clay and Platte. We entered 50 stores (not gyms, restaurants or hair salons), 10 in each county, ranging from large chains, such as Walmart, QuikTrip, Target, Bath & Body Works and Hobby Lobby, to regional or even small family-run businesses, like the Red X in Riverside and the New Dimestore in Brookside.

Although hardly scientific, numbers offer a snapshot of what, after even a brief look, shows itself to be an uneven safety landscape — one that could set nerves on edge as likely as calm them.

Of the 50 stores visited:

▪ At a little more than half (54%, 27 stores), every employee wore masks.

▪ At 1 in 4 (24%, 12 stores), zero employees wore masks.

▪ Wyandotte County, already hit hard by the coronavirus, seemed the most vulnerable. Only 1 of 10 stores visited, Beauty Brands, had every employee wearing masks, although Nebraska Furniture Mart had just one employee without one. At six stores, no employees wore masks.

▪ In the other counties, all employees wore masks at 60% to 70% of stores.

▪ Sneeze guards at registers were found at 60% of stores (30 of 50).

▪ About two-thirds provided hand sanitizers and other cleaning supplies for customers (32 of 50).

▪ Size appeared to matter, with chain stores implementing the most precautions on average. Smaller shops tended to have fewer, while still insisting customers were being kept safe.

Dick’s Sporting Goods in Liberty, for example, appeared to use multiple COVID-19 precautions: masks on 100% of employees, limiting the number of customers, hand sanitizers readily available, gloves available for customers who ask, even disinfecting and then placing all clothes tried on into a 48-hour store room “quarantine” before returning them to the racks.

At Quilting Is My Therapy, a fabric shop on the nearby Liberty Square, manager Becky McCoy said she saw no need for masks, sneeze guards or floor markings to prompt social distancing. The store provides hand sanitizer for those who ask. She said the tiny shop disinfects regularly.

But McCoy also said she thinks too many preventive changes, like sneeze guards and markings on the floor, heighten fear as much as to lessen it. “I think it’s 50-50,” she said. Because McCoy suffers asthma, allergies and claustrophobia, she also doesn’t feel comfortable wearing a mask. As such, she doesn’t force employees or customers to wear them.

“How do I expect someone to do something I’m not doing myself?” she said.

Cities and counties require retail stores to enforce social distancing, and some limit how many people can be inside. Other safety protocols, including wearing masks, are recommended but not mandatory.

County by county, here’s some of what we observed:

Johnson County

Oak Park Mall was bustling. Groups — some socially distancing, others not — chatted outside of stores. A few high school seniors walked the mall wearing graduation gowns.

Shops displayed a wide range of safety protocols. Some smaller stores attempted to create one-way paths for customers. Abercombie & Fitch allowed 60 customers at a time. Signs encouraged customers to wear masks, and 100% of employees did so.

There was a stark difference in protocols among large department stores.

At Macy’s, floor markings and signs were posted every few feet. Makeup counters were roped off or closed. Plexiglass surrounded cash registers. And an extra table was added in front of checkout counters to ensure clerks and customers would be six feet apart.

A voice came over the public address system at Dillard’s reminding customers to stay six feet apart and cover their coughs. But no signs were visible offering that directive. Many registers and fitting rooms were closed, as were beauty counters. But no floor markings kept customers apart. Sales people wore masks at registers, but they had nothing separating them from customers.

Most employees at a Shawnee QuikTrip were not seen wearing masks, other than behind the food counter. The store had no sneeze guard or floor markings encouraging social distancing. The overwhelming majority of customers did not wear masks, often brushing past one another or standing near each other in aisles.

MDL Wine & Spirits in Overland Park had implemented numerous precautions. Signs outside warned customers that the store would close on certain days or hours so employees could deep clean. A sign asked customers to maintain six feet of distance, and cautioned that clerks might “step back slightly as you put purchases on the counter.”

Floor markings directed customers to wait before walking up to the register. Employees were guarded by plastic walls and often used hand sanitizer. But it was up to each employee to decide whether to wear a mask. Only about half did so.

Inside Target in Mission, signs and floor markings urged everyone to social distance, but customers found that difficult. The parking lot was more than half full on a weekday.

Many ignored the six-foot distancing rule. Long lines were at registers. All employees wore masks and gloves, although only about 50% of customers did, a common statistic at many stores.

At one point, a pregnant woman, wearing a mask and clutching her stomach, was surrounded by customers, many of whom did not wear masks. Outside, a mother, wearing a mask, held her young daughter’s hand as the child spit in the parking lot within a few feet of people walking by.

Wyandotte County

Wyandotte County accounts for 40% of the 200-plus COVID-19 deaths in Kansas. That’s why, until Friday, it was operating under stricter rules than most of the state. Before then, the county allowed only “in-store pickup if proper social distancing is maintained,” county spokesman David Reno said in an email.

But shoppers at some stores were seen earlier in the week wandering the aisles and making in-store purchases. At Nebraska Furniture Mart, for example, shoppers perused appliances and recliners.

Reno said he doubted the health department would have allowed such behavior, adding, “this is a pretty good example of how differing state and local orders (and which supersedes under what conditions) confused folks.”

But Andy Shefsky, spokesman for Nebraska Furniture Mart, said the store worked with the Unified Government and the health department to reopen Monday.

At the entrance, two employees kept count of customers walking into the massive store. Nineteen of 20 employees wore face masks, including one with a face shield. Touchless stands with hand sanitizer were placed throughout the store to spit out globs redolent of rubbing alcohol. Announcements reminded shoppers about social distancing.

But elsewhere in Wyandotte County, stores appeared to remain more vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19.

Six businesses — an Advance Auto Parts on 18th Street, a QuikTrip on North 78th Street, a Happy Foods on Kaw Drive, a U.S. Postal Service site on Kaw Drive, Riverview Garden Center and a Dollar General on Metropolitan Avenue — had no employees wearing masks on the day visited.

At Cabela’s, more than 30 cars were parked in the lot. Inside, fewer than half of the employees wore masks. Most customers had none.

Of the 10 stores visited, only one, Beauty Brands, had all the employees, four of them, wearing masks. One worker sprayed down a shelf as another took the temperature of a customer entering the store.

At the Sun Fresh on South 18th Street, most employees wore masks, but one restocking fruit did not. A worker behind the meat counter had his pulled below his chin, exposing his nose and mouth.

Another worker sanitized carts and baskets.

“I felt comfortable going in,” shopper Doris Washington said, mask on, loading groceries into her car.

At Riverview Garden Center, few if any precautions seemed to be observed. No masks. No sneeze guards, hand sanitizer for customers nor floor markings, no signs promoting social distancing.

The Dollar General was the only store visited that had complete floor markings, the letter X made of masking tape placed every six feet throughout the store. The two employees were not wearing masks.

Jackson County

A mixed bag: six of 10 stores checked — the New Dime Store in Brookside, Mike’s Wine & Spirits in Westport, Anthropologie on the County Club Plaza, Target at Ward Parkway Center, Old Time Pottery in Independence and a Walmart in Blue Springs — had 100% of employees wearing masks.

The stores that didn’t, like a Dollar General on Holmes Road, took few other precautions. No employees there were spotted wearing masks, and few did at a Dollar Tree off U.S. 40 in Independence or at a QuikTrip also in Independence. About half of employees at the Furniture Deals in Independence wore masks.

Mike’s liquor store put in sneeze guards and floor markings for social distancing, limited store capacity and had sanitizers and gloves available for customers.

Kimberly Harris, owner of the New Dime Store, is asking all customers to wear masks, and is willing to provide them. If customers don’t want to wear one, she’s asking them to order by phone for curbside pickup.

The Target at Ward Parkway had floor markings directing customers to walk in a single direction in the aisles, although few heeded them. Asked about hand sanitizer, a cashier said that she didn’t have any for customers or herself, but that the restrooms were open. Called later, the store said they sometimes run out.

Outside the Walmart on Missouri 291 and 39th Street, yellow plastic tape draped on posts guided shoppers inside, single file. One way in, one way out.

Signs at the entrance reminded them to stay six feet apart and suggested they wear masks, although few did. Most strolled through the store moving in every direction and ignoring the one-way arrows taped to the floor. One shopper brushed against another as he reached over her for an item on a shelf. At the self-serve checkout stations, workers wiped down keypads after every transaction but didn’t wear gloves.

Only one of the four employees at the QuikTrip at Noland Road and 23rd Street wore a mask. No mask or gloves were worn by the employee serving pizza and sandwiches to customers. Customers didn’t seem to mind. They weren’t wearing masks either, but most seemed to follow the floor markings keeping them far enough from others.

An employee said customers tell her the masks are uncomfortable so they don’t wear them.

Clay County

Hobby Lobby was criticized in March when David Green, the company’s founder and chief executive, said the chain would remain open, even though officials said it’s not an essential business. Green, an evangelical Christian, said God would guide them.

Whatever the inspiration or criticism, the store at Liberty Commons was taking precautions.

Signs were affixed to every aisle, markings were on the floor: social distance. A worker, in a mask, disinfected carts. Every employee wore a mask. Hand sanitizer stood at the checkout counters. Sneeze guards separated clerks from customers.

Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse and Dick’s Sporting Goods were similar, as was Bath & Body Works, which went further, accepting only credit cards, no cash, to cut down on the possible spread of the coronavirus. The cash register was wiped clean with disinfectant after every transaction.

At Dollar General on Route 291 in the Crossroads Shopping Center, assistant manager Dalene Pottker said she’d only recently begun wearing a mask at work, after the company required it.

“I’m not too worried about” getting the virus, she said.

In North Kansas City, an older man, no mask, no gloves, placed his hand on the door frame, leaning inside the OmniLife virtual reality business on Armour Road. He stood not two feet away from and chatting with employee Jarred Stanich, 19, son of owner Marco Stanich.

OmniLife provides virtual reality experiences for both entertainment (gamers having fun) and for health care, including to veterans to help ease post-traumatic stress disorder. Neither employee wore a mask, although they do give them to customers.

Because customers wear virtual reality masks over their eyes, Marco Stanich said, the equipment is always cleaned after each use and includes disposable liners. Hand controls are cleaned repeatedly, he said. Players were already placed more than six feet apart during play.

A sign outside of the Soap Bubble, a cleaning supply company on Armour Boulevard in North Kansas City, read: “WE HAVE GLOVES MASKS AND HAND SANITIZERS!”

Inside, owner John Reyel, who opened the business in January, sat at the register wearing no mask. He had no sneeze guard or floor markings. His reason: They’re a cleaning supply company. Every three days, he said, he sets off a hospital aerosol disinfectant that kills viruses.

“I keep it really clean in here,” he said.

Platte County

At six of 10 Platte County stores — most of them chains like Dillard’s and Michael’s in Zona Rosa and Price Chopper in Parkville — every employee wore masks. At Parkville Antiques and a QuikTrip in Riverside, they wore none. Few did at the nearby Red X.

Keith Maxey, a security guard at the Menards off Missouri 152, is tasked with telling customers they can’t come in if they’re not wearing a mask. One exasperated man nearly walked off before Maxey said masks were for sale inside for $1.

He checked the IDs of anyone who who looked younger than 16. The store’s COVID-19 policy restricts kids under that age, even with families, and asks them to order online. It’s caused some pushback.

“There are people who may or may not accept that COVID-19 is a thing,” Maxey said.

Inside, near checkout, masks on two customers flapped against their faces, dangling from single ear straps. No sneeze guards separated them from cashiers.

A sign at the door of Dillard’s said masks were available upon request. A handful of masked customers meandered through the all-but empty store, with vast room for social distancing, although no floor markers urged it at checkout. Makeup counters were closed.

At Dick’s Sporting Goods, an employee counted customers entering and exiting. Masks were available upon request, and about half the customers wore them. Floor markings urged social distancing, yet some teens ignored the caution and stood in a pack that forced customers to walk close by to get to the cashiers.

At the Red X grocery, liquor and hardware store, customers often did not stand behind sneeze guards, but instead talked with employees just to the side. Few employees wore masks, including one behind the deli counter serving hot food. There was no sneeze guard.

Robert Griffin, a longtime customer who was not wearing a mask, called the approach “relaxed” and said customers have stopped wearing masks since stay-at-home orders were lifted. He said he’s just careful to keep his distance.

Susan Cunningham and her husband, Jeff, never shut down their Parkville Antique Mall. They were deemed essential because they sell ice cream and lunch.

The store has taken few safety precautions. Their occupancy is limited to 100 people, though Cunningham said she wasn’t worried about exceeding that limit. The store’s two customers that day did not wear masks. Cunningham didn’t either but said her family has been careful to wear gloves while working with food and sanitizing surfaces regularly.

Masks were required for all customers entering the Hillcrest Platte County Thrift Shop. They could be purchased for $1 inside, but a volunteer at the door said she would give them free to customers who didn’t want to purchase one. All staff wore masks as well.

Carts were sanitized after every use, and hand washing and hand sanitizing stations dotted the store. A few customers used them before and after sorting through clothes. Donations are quarantined before they’re placed on the sales floor.

Store capacity has been limited, but the space is large enough that customers generally did not come close to one another.

At the back of the store, one man sat on a couch for sale, his mask pulled down entirely.

Includes reporting by The Star’s Katie Bernard, Katie Moore, Sarah Ritter, Joyce Smith and Mará Rose Williams.

Eric Adler

The Kansas City Star

816-234-4431

Eric Adler, at The Star since 1985, has the luxury of writing about any topic or anyone, focusing on in-depth stories about people at both the center and on the fringes of the news. His work has received dozens of national and regional awards.