C-Stores and Grocers Rise to the Challenge

By Alex Baloga

WORMLEYSBURG, Pa.—With dine-in restaurants closed and a nation of hungry mouths to feed, grocery stores, convenience stores and their dedicated workers have played a critical role in the fight against the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19.

The stores have stepped up to the challenge, offering a host of initiatives aimed at protecting both employees and customers. As an organization that represents thousands of food retailers across Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association is incredibly proud of the work being done by our members, industry partners and all retail food establishments. 

At many grocery stores, early morning senior-shopping hours are available to those 60 years and older and those with compromised immune systems, thus protecting the population most susceptible to complications from the virus.

Sneeze guards, or plexiglass shields, have been constructed at many customer-facing areas including register, customer service, pharmacy and foodservice, creating a protective barrier between shoppers and employees. Store management has equipped workers with face masks and hand sanitizer.

Social distancing measures, such as signage and floor markers, have also been put in place to further protect customers. Shopping carts are being sanitized. Stores are offering cleaning wipes as you enter. Management has ramped up daytime and overnight cleaning.

In some cases, stores are taking temperatures of customers and employees.

Here are some specific measures established at PFMA member stores:

• Brown’s Super Stores, Inc. (ShopRite) has added plexiglass shields to all checkouts, pharmacy, customer service and food service registers to reduce the risk of coughing and sneezing for associates’ and customers’ protection. GIANT, Weis Markets and others have done the same.
• Charley Family Shop ‘N Save installed protective sheets at their deli and added 12 hours a day of cleaning for the highest touched areas in its stores.
• Gerrity’s, GIANT, Karns, McCaffrey’s Food Markets and others have added early shopping hours for seniors and others who are susceptible to COVID-19 complications.
• Meijer is taking the temperatures of its employees before they start their shifts and surveying them to determine if they could have been exposed to COVID-19.
• Rutters has installed additional hand sanitizer stations throughout its stores for employee and customer use.
• Wawa asks customers and associates to maintain a distance of six feet from each other inside the store, which is supported through helpful in-store signage, announcements and videos. The stores have also added visual floor markers to support maintaining a healthy distance and clear, plastic shields at checkout counters.

The dedication and courageousness of our grocery and convenience store heroes has not gone unnoticed, earning well-deserved praise from many local, state and federal leaders. As an industry, we are beyond grateful for their tireless work—restocking shelves, delivering groceries, sanitizing touch screens, and so much more.

Recognizing their hard work, many stores have raised pay and added bonuses for their employees. Nearly all grocers and convenience stores are shouting “help wanted” from the rooftops as they try to keep pace with an incredible surge in demand while this awful pandemic persists.

Companies are also giving back to their communities. Altoona-based Sheetz is providing free Kids Meals at some of its locations. Stop & Shop, an Ahold subsidiary, will be donating 5,000 free, fresh meals every day for healthcare workers and first responders in some of the areas hardest hit by the pandemic. Giant Eagle has added special curbside pickup hours for healthcare workers. Convenience store delivery company goPuff committed $1 million in orders to frontline healthcare workers.

We’re all in this together. Grocery and convenience stores continue to do their best to minimize exposure. Even so, some workers have unfortunately contracted COVID-19, and our hearts go out to all those who have been affected inside and outside the industry.

The industry will continue to develop and implement ideas to mitigate the spread of the virus while continuing to serve the public’s most basic need: sustainable, safe and healthy food.

Alex Baloga is president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association, which represents grocers, convenience stores, wholesalers, gaming companies and consumer packaged goods companies across the state. Learn more at PFMA.org.

Coronavirus Resources

NACS has compiled resources to help the convenience retail community navigate the COVID-19 crisis. For news updates and guidance, visit our coronavirus resources page.

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