Mask-making in the Poconos has become even more difficult as East Stroudsburg’s Walmart closed down their craft desk due to COVID-19 concerns.

Customers shopping for fabric to craft their own homemade masks were met with confusion and frustration this week as managers for many of the department store chain’s locations opted to cease custom cutting materials in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Tuesday, Lee Beaton of Pike County and Tina Margavich of Tobyhanna both found themselves with several other customers at the East Stroudsburg Walmart looking for mask-making supplies.

Beaton, a volunteer at Lehigh Valley Hospice, had been making masks for about a week, producing around 60 pieces of personal protective equipment for her friends and fellow workers. Margavich had just recently received a pair of homemade masks for her and her husband from a friend, and was inspired to start crafting them herself.

“There was a manager person who was stocking shelves an aisle or two over in the craft section, and I went to her and said, ‘Is there anybody here to cut the fabric?’” Beaton said. “And she said ‘No, as a matter of fact, I don’t think we can get anybody.’ Then she got on her little phone thing, and said she called and she said, ‘If you wait a little while, a lady will come and cut it for you.’ So I told the other people, and we all stood there to wait.”

Another employee noticed the bunch, and asked what they were waiting for. Beaton told him that they were waiting on an employee to come by to cut their fabric.

“He goes, ‘No, no, no. The fabric department’s closed. They’re not going to have anybody,’” Beaton said.

Beaton reiterated that an employee was supposed to come and help the group, though the unidentified employee she was speaking with stated that he was closing the department in addition to the sporting goods section and other areas, deeming them “non-essential.”

“He said you’re not going to get the material, because it’s non-essential, we have this closed,” Margavich said. “I looked at him and said, ‘What do you mean it’s non-essential? We’re making masks.’”

Beaton said she went to the customer service desk with another shopper and spoke with a manager who stated that while certain sections of the store, such as the grocery area, were considered essential, the fabric area was not.

“She was adamant,” Beaton said. “She said ‘People need to eat. Food is a necessity. These are not a necessity.’ And I said, ‘Well, if the people are dead, they can’t eat.’ She said, ‘Touch�, but this isn’t just this store, it’s chain-wide that they’re calling the fabric non-essential.’”

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Beaton said she noticed another one of the customers who had been waiting for fabric was walking with who she assumed was a manager, and she asked the manager about whether she could get anything cut. The manager explained that she was going to the back to cut two bolts of fabric for the other customer.

“The manager lady goes into the back room, never to return again, and with the other lady’s fabric,” Beaton said. “I get back to the counter, because I’m thinking maybe she’s back at the counter, cutting at the fabric counter, and they put up a big sign that says ‘this department is unfortunately closed until further notice.’”

Margavich, frustrated by the experience and wanting to know how such a vital part of the store could be closed, contacted the governor’s office, which directed her to the Department of Health.

“They told me that it’s Walmart corporate that’s doing that, so they told me to call the Walmart corporate office, which I did,” Margavich said. “And I didn’t get anywhere with them either. He kept telling me that the material, the homemade masks are not going to stop the virus. He kept telling me that, and that’s why they’re not selling the material.”

A call to Walmart’s corporate hotline on Wednesday revealed that store managers at numerous locations had decided to close what were determined to be “non-essential departments” at their discretion.

An employee at the East Stroudsburg store confirmed that employees were not able to cut or sell bolts of fabric, at least for the time being, in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19 by reducing customer and employee interactions.

A corporate representative for the company did note that some locations may still provide fabric cutting services, though “pretty much all the stores” had stopped the service.

Purchasing masks has become practically impossible, if not prohibitively expensive since the pandemic took root in the United States. Obtaining fabric for mask-making has become somewhat difficult in certain areas, including Monroe County, following the directive of Governor Tom Wolf’s office that Pennsylvanians should wear masks when out in public.

Stroudsburg’s American Ribbon has closed its physical storefront, as has the local Michaels location. Both suppliers offer online orders and deliveries, and American Ribbon even allows for local order pickup on a limited basis, though the days of perusing fabric selections in-store are gone for now.

For now, sewers and seamstresses are stuck with what they have on hand and what can be ordered online, though they are hoping for the return of in-store purchases in the near future.

“I would go to the Ann Street outlet, the Ribbon Outlet, that would be my prime choice, but that whole outlet’s closed, so there’s nothing to do but go to Walmart,” Beaton said. “That’s our lifeline right now over there, and if they’re going to close it down, I’m not sure where we’ll be able to go.”

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