In the time of coronavirus, grocery shopping can be more of a frantic dash for toilet paper and hand sanitizer than a leisurely Tuesday activity. Some grocery chains across the world are looking to ease that burden on the most vulnerable populations.
Elder-Only Shopping Hours
Dollar General CEO, Todd Vasos announced on Monday, March 16th, that, “in keeping with our mission and our ongoing commitment to serve our communities, we are dedicating the first hour of each day to seniors.” (1)
Many other stores have followed suit in the wake of this announcement, although with slight variations. For instance, Food Town in Houston, Texas will allow elderly shoppers between 7-8am, but their starting age for this senior hour is 65—older than many other stores. Jersey City announced they will try to make sure all local grocery stores have not one, but two hours for specialized shopping. Jersey City is also going above and beyond by servicing not just the elderly, but immunocompromised and disabled shoppers, as well as pregnant women. (1)
Why?
Danny Burke manages a grocery store called Iceland in North Ireland. To him, it’s not just about making it easier for senior citizens to ‘compete’ for items—although that’s certainly part of it. “The store is fully cleaned every morning,” he explains. These early hours will be the most sanitary times during the day. Senior-only hours will also improve ‘social distancing,’ the hugely important strategy to prevent the spread of COVID-19. With a smaller set of people in the store, it will be easier to maintain distance between everyone. Of course, it’s also just a lot of stress off the elderly in general, to Burke’s mind. “It will just give them a bit of quiet time to get what they need and get home before it all sort of kicks off.” (2)
Naysayers
However, not everyone agrees with the senior shopping strategy. The Texas and Mexico supermarket chain, H-E-B, thinks that elderly hours could be downright harmful. “H-E-B takes care of Texas,” declared a company statement, “and we feel asking a group to congregate at our stores in a certain timeframe is not a safe idea.” (3)
Instead, their website declares they’ll help the shoppers of Texas in other ways. They’ll use item limits, sanitizing wipes, and “maintaining close contact with our suppliers.”
Their website post also states that they will be constantly re-evaluating to make sure they’re using best shopping practices. (4)
Some seniors are unhappy with the senior-only shopping hours as well. Robert Hilton was interviewed about his experience in Lorain, Ohio’s 5am elderly shopping hours. He expressed his frustration with the level of stock available. “There’s nothing in there, there’s nothing stocked for us,” he said. “No toilet paper, no water, no paper towels, nothing.” (5)
It is hard to know how much of the low supply levels can be ascribed to an earlier opening time, and how much is an inability to keep up with demand. As of March 17th, 2020 there are 67 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 4 in Lorain. (5)
