Target, CVS temporarily close stores due to protest dangers

Adjusted hours, closures affect over 200 Target stores

NOAH BERGER/Associated Press

People leave a vandalized Target store in Oakland, California, on May 30, during protests concerning George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis. Target announced Sunday it will close certain locations temporarily.

DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press

Target and CVS said Sunday they are temporarily closing certain locations, including some that were damaged during protests over the death of George Floyd last week.

Target said it has closed six stores for an extended period. It hopes to reopen its Lake Street store in Minneapolis by the end of this year. The store was near where Floyd was killed, and it was heavily damaged during last week’s protests. Another store in Minneapolis remains closed, along with stores in Oakland, California; Atlanta; Philadelphia and Chicago.

The company temporarily closed or adjusted hours at more than 200 stores over the weekend, but most were scheduled to reopen Sunday or Monday.

“We are heartbroken by the death of George Floyd and the pain it is causing communities across the country,” Target said in a statement. “Our focus will remain on our team members’ safety and helping our community heal.”

Employees at closed stores will be paid for up to 14 days, including premiums they are earning because of the coronavirus pandemic, Target said. They will also be able to work at Target locations that remain open.

CVS didn’t say how many stores it had closed, but it said the shuttered locations are in more than 20 states and the District of Columbia. A spokeswoman for the company said pharmacies at closed stores will reroute customers to a nearby CVS so they can get prescriptions filled.

“Employee and customer safety is our top priority, so we are continually monitoring protests as they occur in the communities we serve and will close stores, if needed, to help ensure the safety of employees and customers,” CVS said in a statement.

Floyd, who was black and handcuffed, died while Minneapolis police arrested him on May 25. Cellphone video showed that a white officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes while Floyd pleaded for air and eventually stopped moving. Chauvin now faces murder and manslaughter charges. The other three officers involved in the arrest were fired but haven’t been charged.

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