Starting today, the parent company of one of Nome’s two grocery stores will require its customers to wear face coverings when shopping inside their building.

According to a statement from Albertsons Companies released on Thursday, in all their stores they own across all locations in the United States, they are requiring customers to wear face coverings for, “their protection and for that of the company’s associates.”

Albertsons Companies owns grocery stores like Safeway, Carrs, and several others. The company’s new COVID-19 policy, which goes into effect today, will apply to the Hanson’s grocery store in Nome, which is a Safeway location.

The company joins a growing list of retail and grocery stores across the nation who are mandating face coverings, such as Walmart, Kroger, and Costco.

Based on the statement from Albertsons Companies, it is unclear how this new face mask policy will be enforced within their stores, including locally at Hanson Trading Co.

A spokesperson for the company could not be reached for comment before the airing of this story.

Image at top: The local Safeway grocery store, known by most as Hanson’s Trading Co. in Nome. Photo from Davis Hovey, KNOM (2020).