Dutch Growers among companies giving customers choice to wear masks in store

Businesses across Saskatchewan no doubt will have different rules moving forward when it comes to wearing a mask in stores.

The public health order requiring masks to be worn in indoor public places was lifted Monday in Saskatchewan, but that doesn’t mean every business is following through at this point.

Nikki van Duyvendyk, an owner at Dutch Growers in Saskatoon, says the most important factor is making sure all of the customers and staff feel as safe as possible in the store.

“We’ve always sort of taken the safe approach here and just wanting to make all of our staff and customers comfortable,” van Duyvendyk said.

“Right now, we are giving the choice to our customers to wear a mask coming into the store or not. But our staff will be keeping their masks on for at least the first couple of weeks until we sort of navigate where things are going.”

According to van Duyvendyk, the staff members at Dutch Growers have no issues keeping masks mandatory for the time being.

“Our staff is definitely wanting to keep them on a little bit longer,” she said. “When you actually work with the public, they come actually really close to you.”

While the new mask mandate rules will have an adjustment period, van Duyvendyk says most of the customers on the first day didn’t seem to have a problem keeping their masks on.

“I’m actually surprised; the majority of our customers coming in today are all wearing masks,” she said. “I would say probably 90 per cent of the people coming into our store today have masks on.”

Whether customers wear a mask or choose not to, van Duyvendyk just hopes everyone is kind to one another, whether they agree or disagree with the rules in place.

“I just hope that everyone is respectful of everyone’s decisions and is respectful for all those people out there that are working with the public,” she said.

“Just remember that it is still good to keep that distance when you’re talking to other people in the service industry and remember they’re speaking with a lot of people on a daily basis.”