Local grocery stores are following the state’s lead on how to keep their employees and customers safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and many started even before Gov. Charlie Baker announced new requirements this week.
Sarah Kanabay, community outreach coordinator for the Franklin Community Co-op, said both McCusker’s Market in Shelburne Falls and Green Fields Market in Greenfield have been diligent about keeping everyone safe since before the governor announced his very first recommendations and requirements.
“We take the fact that our markets are community-owned very seriously, and we’re in this together with our community,” Kanabay said. “We are looking at what local really means, because our customers are friends, family, neighbors and co-owners.”
Kanabay said there has been a designated shopping time — 9 to 10 a.m. — when at-risk people and those ages 60 and up can shop. Almost everyone who walks through the door is wearing a mask.
Likewise, all employees are wearing masks and Kanabay said they are cleaning the stores continually, including from 2 to 2:30 p.m. each day, when they close to do a “full sweep” of the store.
“We’re disinfecting religiously and have hand sanitizer,” she said. “We’re metering and distancing and taking other precautions, and now we are limiting the people who are shopping at one time. We’ve been doing this, though, for two weeks or longer.”
Baker has now said that grocery stores must limit the amount of people in a store at one time to 40 percent of the capacity, and that figure includes employees.
She said in Shelburne Falls, McCusker’s has reconfigured its store so that there is one point of entry and a separate point of exit. Neither store has used plastic bags or charged for paper bags, and Kanabay said they continue to do so.
“What people need to understand is that our employees don’t want to get sick, just like our customers, so we will continue to protect everyone,” Kanabay said.
She said all employees are helping in all capacities with, for instance, the general manager stocking shelves and bagging curbside orders.
Food City’s Assistant Store Manager Brian Cocco said employees are making sure people are staying 6 feet apart. The store in Turners Falls has installed clear shields at cash registers and taken as many steps as possible to keep customers and employees safe.
He said 130 people represent 40 percent of the store’s maximum capacity, but the store has only had about 50, including employees, at a time in the past couple of weeks.
“We saw a surge in the beginning,” he said. “Now it has calmed way down, thankfully.”
Cocco said Store Manager Jon Steiner is following all of the state’s regulations and figuring how to take more precautions.
“We’re cleaning constantly,” he said. “We’ll continue to monitor everything so that we stay safe.”
Baker has not only limited grocery store capacities to 40 percent, but also requires: there be places to wash hands; alcohol-based wipes be placed at entrances; social distancing be practiced; food stations be closed and free samples not be distributed; and that employees not come to work when they are sick and not be penalized because they stay home.
According to Stop & Shop in Greenfield, the health and safety of its customers and employees is its main priority.
“Stop & Shop continues to follow state guidelines to keep our customers and associates safe,” the company said in a written response to questions.
The store is monitoring the number of people shopping and working at any one time. The number is based on the square footage of the store. Store managers take regular customer counts to maintain proper capacity.
Disinfecting wipes are available near store entrances and customers can wipe down carriages, baskets and scanners before they use them.
“We have been ensuring our associates have access to items like disinfecting wipes, gloves and hand sanitizers,” the store wrote.
The store is also doing a thorough cleaning overnight, and is opening from 6 to 7:30 a.m. for people ages 60 and up. Eligible customers can also use the special half-price code, “STOPSHOPUBER” for Uber rides to and from the store up to twice a week for $20 per ride during that designated shopping time.
Stop & Shop said it is not charging for bags, has closed all food and sampling stations, and has also temporarily closed the deli counter.
Aisles are now one-way to traffic and there is tape on the floor to maintain a 6-foot distance. The local store is using every other register, when possible, to keep people away from each other, and clear plastic guards have been installed at registers and at the pharmacy. The local store is “in the process of procuring KN95 masks for our associates,” and they are welcome to wear their own masks.
The Greenfield Health Department — under the direction of Health Director Valerie Bird — has issued and is actively enforcing the governor’s orders for grocery stores, supermarkets and convenience stores within the city, effective immediately.