Canada’s grocery store chains are ramping up their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, including managing increased customer demand and health and safety requirements.
Many grocery stores have placed a limit on the maximum number of items of any one product that a customer can buy, and have dedicated the first hour of operation to serving seniors and those with disabilities.
Stores have also reduced operating hours, mainly to allow extra time for staff to sanitize frequentlly used services (including self-service cash registers and shopping baskets and carts).
Grocery stores are also beginning to restrict the number of customers allowed in a store during busy times, to make it easier for customers and staff to practise social distancing. Some stores have begun to place floor markers at check-out lines to remind customers of the recommendation for two metres (six feet).
Most chains are also beginning to install plexiglass shields for check-out counters. Here are what specific grocery store chains are doing:
In Peterborough, some residents are maintaining a list in real time (below) of what’s in stock at local grocery stores, along with other stores that sell food and household items. You can help view and help maintain the Google Sheets spreadsheet. There is also a resource list available for Peterborough residents on Google Drive.
Loblaw, No Frills, and Shoppers Drug Mart
- Supermarkets will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., with the first hour dedicated to seniors and those with disabilities. Hours at Shoppers Drug Mart stores, some of which are located in rural areas, will be based on the needs of each community.
- The number of customers allowed in the busiest stores at the same time will be restricted. For those stores, the specific capacity will be determined based on their size. Wherever possible, only every other checkout lane will be open to encourage social distancing.
- Loose or bulk items in certain supermarkets will be eliminated and some service departments, such as seafood, will more to exclusively pre-packed products. All food sampling has been stopped.
- Beauty testers have been removed in Shoppers Drug Mart stores, with cosmetic services like makeovers and skincare consultations suspended.
- The use of debit or credit over cash is being encouraged.
- The $0.05 plastic bag fee is being temporarily waived to discourage the use of reusable bags in stores where cashiers still pack groceries. Customers who bring reusable bags will have to pack their own items.
- Plexiglass shields for the checkout counters are being installed in stores.
Sobeys and FreshCo
- Store hours have been temporarily reduced to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
- Stores will being to have floor markers at checkout to help facilitate a two-metre distance between customers.
- Senior shopping hour takes place from 8 to 9 a.m., for elderly and vulnerable people.
- Bulk baked goods and bulk foods in self-serve areas, such as dry nutes and chocolate-covered almonds, are no longer available.
- Plexiglass shields for the checkout counters are being installed in stores.
Metro and Food Basics
- Store hours have been temporarily reduced to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
- Senior shopping hour takes place from 8 to 9 a.m., for elderly and vulnerable people.
- All testers from beauty and perfume sections have been removed, and the use of testers in the cosmetic department of in-store pharmacies has been suspended.
