Retail chain shut down by Fort Worth code compliance reopens amid coronavirus orders
Three stores that were shut down by Fort Worth Code Compliance on Friday for violating the coronavirus shutdown order reopened over the weekend.
Three Tuesday Morning stores opened to the public on Friday and were promptly shut down by code compliance officers. While Friday was the first day of “retail-to-go” in Texas, Tuesday Morning was allowing people to shop inside, which non-essential businesses are not allowed to do.
However, corporate spokesman Jonathan Morgan said later Sunday that the Texas Division of Emergency Management confirmed via email that Tuesday Morning is an essential business. Morgan said the Fort Worth stores opened Friday because Tuesday Morning sells “a significant amount of food and other essential items.”
City code enforcement officers closed Tuesday Mornings on Hulen and Camp Bowie Friday afternoon, as well as a store off U.S. 287 and Interstate 35. On Sunday, employees at the three locations confirmed over the phone that they were open until 5 p.m.
Code Compliance officials did not immediately return requests for comment.
At Tuesday Morning on Camp Bowie, several customers were shopping inside the store on Sunday. The company’s statement declaring itself an essential business was taped to the automatic doors. Signs posted on the aisles designated which direction customers should walk, similar to arrows in a parking lot.
A manager at the store referred the Star-Telegram’s questions to corporate offices.
Morgan said the stores were limiting customers, maintaining social distancing and ensuring customers and employees wear personal protective equipment. On Sunday, an employee at the store was not wearing a mask until a Star-Telegram reporter asked to speak with her. At least two customers were not wearing a mask or gloves.
The company said Friday it has the ability to stay open during stay-at-home orders because the stores sell food, pet supplies and other essential home goods.
However, because the bulk of the store’s sales are not food, the city had determined Tuesday Morning was not an essential business, according to emails from Fort Worth’s code compliance department.
According to a press release from Tuesday Morning’s corporate offices on March 26, the company said it would “follow the guidance provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as local and state government officials, when making decisions to reopen stores.”
Fort Worth has allowed curbside pickup for retail since the outbreak first began, city health officer Brandon Bennett said. But even with Gov. Greg Abbott’s retail-to-go guidelines, members of the public are not allowed to go inside the stores.
Abbott announced he will give more information about the next phase of reopening Texas businesses at a press conference on Monday at 2:30 p.m.
This story was originally published April 26, 2020 at 6:17 PM.
