Giant Eagle, other firms ramp up policies
In response to the coronavirus outbreak, Giant Eagle is enforcing a limit on the number of customers allowed into its supermarkets at one time.
The O’Hara Township-based company said in a news release Monday that it will allow up to 50% of occupancy established by fire code at each store. That includes employees. Enforcement of this policy will take effect with the opening of business today.
An announcement to this effect will be posted near the entrance to each building.
Stores also will shift to use every other register lane, when possible, and employees will monitor social distancing of customers while providing guidance as needed.
Company spokeswoman Jannah Jablonowski said in a statement: “As supermarkets, convenience stores and pharmacies remain in operation as essential community resources, we believe it’s vital to heighten our social distancing and sanitization procedures throughout the store.”
Other chains are stepping up COVID-19 prevention policies. Lowe’s, the home improvement company, also has employees monitoring social distancing of customers in its garden center and front-end areas. It is limiting foot traffic, too, through an app it has developed and provided to associates, and has enhanced curbside pickup.
Target Corp. said on its website Monday it will add “social distancing and safety measures soon, including providing non-surgical face masks and gloves for team members to wear on the job, and monitoring – and metering when necessary – the number of people inside our stores nationwide.”
The discount retailer also said it was changing the way it approaches sanitation following the deaths, including hiring a third-party company to clean and sanitize high-touch surfaces at the store.
Walmart began limiting the number of shoppers in its stores on Saturday to “no more than five customers for each 1,000 square feet at a given time, roughly 20% of a store’s capacity,” the firm announced.
Two employees from a Chicago-area Walmart store died of COVID-19 recently. The discount retailer responded by changing sanitation methods, including hiring a third-party company to clean and sanitize high-touch surfaces at stores.