Citing Crime Risks, Westside Retailer Bans Face Coverings Indoor

LOS ANGELES, CA — A Los Angeles clothing store made headlines over the weekend when its management prohibited shoppers from wearing facemasks against the recommendation of county health officials.

Kitson Los Angeles announced the move on its Instagram page populated by anti-mask and anti-vaccine mandate memes, framing the decision as a crime and safety issue. The store's operators encouraged other local businesses to adopt similar measures.

According to operators of the Kitson Los Angeles store at 115 S. Robertson Blvd. face masks are not permitted inside "due to the safety of our staff & assets of the store."

"We need to see the faces of the criminals. Please pass this along and hope other businesses will follow," according to the social media post.

The store's supporters hailed the move.

"Awesome! More stores need to do this," one fan replied to the announcement on Instagram. "Courage is contagious. Way to be a leader!

Faces coverings are not required in Los Angeles County and haven't been all summer. However, coronavirus transmission is still high locally, and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health strongly recommends wearing masks in indoor public spaces and encourages businesses to require them. On Monday, the county announced nearly 8,000 more COVID-19 cases confirmed in Los Angeles County over a three-day period along with 25 new virus-related fatalities.

In an Instagram post announcing the move last week, store officials said, "Eric Garcetti, Gavin Newsom, and Gascon are clueless what obstacles businesses have to overcome to protect their staff and assets of their business."

Store officials also namechecked the county's health director Barbara Ferrer in another post: "At Kitson we think Garcetti and the LA Health Director have become irrelevant. What they say or think about masks no longer matters. Kitson is now the Captain Barbara Ferrer."

In a statement released to CBS2 on Sunday, store owner Fraser Ross said the ban on masks is a move to "prioritize the safety of our staff and customers."

"We noticed a disturbing trend of individuals wearing masks to avoid identification in various situations including, but not limited to, shoplifting, verbal harassment and physical assault," Ross said. "The mask mandate may have begun as a health precaution, but we believe it is now being used by some people for nefarious purposes. To that end, we enacted our own mandate of sorts. We do not allow wearing of masks in the Robertson store during regular business hours."

Ross said customers who prefer to wear masks can either make an appointment or shop online.

City News Service contributed to this report.