Rumours online claim that Walmart and Sam’s Club are introducing a “staggered shopping schedule” to its locations based on age amid the coronavirus pandemic.
This rumour is spreading online typically in the below image format.
Due to the COVID-10 pandemic, effective immediately Walmart is adopting a staggered shopping schedule as follows.
We apologise for any inconeince:
Monday Age 66+
Tuesday 56-65
Wednesday 46-55
Thursday 36-45
Friday 25-35
Saturday 24 and below
Sunday Emergency shopping only
The above message about a staggered opening times for Walmart stores is false.
Walmart has announced no such measure, either from their newsroom, website or social media channels. The image above was not released by Walmart. The webpage that outlines important store information related to the coronavirus pandemic can be seen here on their corporate website, and it does not mention anything about opening stores for particular age ranges on specific days.
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Additionally it is unlikely that such glaring spelling mistakes – such as the misspelling of inconvenience – would make their way onto an official statement or release.
We have reached out to Walmart who told us,
The staggered shopping times information is, in fact, false…
We have begun senior store hours for those ages 60 and older on Tuesdays 1 hour before the regular opening time.
Furthermore, there would be no reason to segregate ages in the way described in the above image. While many stores have dedicated certain time slots for key workers or those deemed vulnerable to the coronavirus, there is no current advice from health organisations that would recommend people in their twenties, thirties, forties or fifties be separated when shopping.
As such, introducing such as staggered shopping schedule would not only be controversial, it wouldn’t make any sense either.
As such, we rank this claim false.