Downtown Raleigh business owner says he refuses to serve customers wearing face masks

Josh Breed, owner of the Vault, says that face masks are ineffective at preventing the spread of COVID-19, and that people need to "show their face" while in his store. He's concerned about thieves trying to rob the store and says they could be hiding behind a face mask meant to stop transmission of coronavirus.

Over the past two years, police reports show just one robbery at the story. A mannequin was stolen  on July 28.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone wear a mask, regardless of their vaccination status, if they are in an area with substantial or high transmission of the virus. As of Friday, that was every single county in North Carolina. The CDC supports this claim with a stack of scientific evidence that says face masks can help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

But Breed says he believes this new no-mask policy is keeping his staff safe.

“If you want to wear a mask walking around the store looking stupid that’s fine. You can wear your mask and look stupid because masks don’t do a damn thing,” he told WRAL News in an interview.

If a customer approaches the register with a mask on, Breed says he will ask them to remove it.

Breed is also invoking politics by banning masks, and in a video posted to the store's Instagram page, he called people who follow COVID-19 precautions "masked Marxists" and "loser leftists."

The City of Raleigh has an ordinance requiring people to wear face masks in all public and private indoor spaces. Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said that the city would be enforcing the new rule largely through education and not law enforcement.

"The city's role is to encourage and educate businesses about the mask mandate and the community benefits of wearing masks," according to a spokesperson with the city.

Josh Waddell, a sales associate at the Vault, says he feels safer with this new policy.

"If somebody wanted to rob me with a mask, I couldn't tell who they were," Waddell said.

Waddell said that the no-mask policy helps the store keep track of who's going in and out of the store. He attributed the fact that the store hasn't been robbed recently to the new face mask policy.

Breed said his new policy isn't going anywhere, because, "I’m not forcing anybody to come down those stairs so why would I be part of the problem?"

He also said he doesn't think his new policy will have any impact on sales and pointed out that the comments on his business Instagram page overall showed a positive response to the new rule.