El Paso book store owner says Walmart, Costco, Target should be barred from selling ‘non-essential’ items

EL PASO, Texas -- With non-essential businesses recently the target of closures and so-called "big box" stores deemed essential, questions arise as to whether aisles at these stores carrying non-essential items should be blocked off.

The owner of Literarity Book Shop, a book store in west El Paso, is asking for that intervention in move to hopefully save small businesses like his.

“What this current order is doing is it's basically taking business that shops like ours might and is basically handing the business to Walmart, Costco, Target and Sam's Club, all of which sell the same things we do,” owner Bill Clark said.

After doing his own research, Clark read online that some stores in other states like Vermont, Michigan, Missouri, and Colorado blocked off non-essential aisles when the pandemic first started at the beginning of the pandemic.

A spokeswoman from Walmart told ABC-7 some stores did do that, but right now that is now happening here in El Paso county.

During a news conference Thursday afternoon, El Paso Health Dept. Director Angela Mora said health leaders have not asked Walmart to block off sections of the store.

The spokeswoman from Walmart said the company has been in contact with city officials as recently as Thursday to discuss spreading the word about the importance of social distancing and wearing masks.

Viewers have told ABC-7 that Walmart customers are not following those health guidelines. When asked if any other levels of enforcement are being planned, the spokeswoman said Walmart is not is the business of policing, reiterating that the retailer is doing what it can during the county's "fluid" situation.

Walmart also sent ABC-7 this statement below:

"From the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, our focus and priority has been and continues to be on the health and safety of our associates and customers. We recognize the role we play to help protect the health and well-being of the communities we serve by following the guidance of health officials like the CDC. That is why we require all associates and customers to wear a mask while in the store, it's a simple step everyone can do for their safety and the safety of others."

Anne Hatfield, Walmart spokeswoman