Grocery stores changing employees’ workflows amid coronavirus pandemic

Store staff at a local Louisville grocery store are all hands-on deck since it has been mandated bars and restaurants cannot offer dine-in services.

“It’s everywhere across the country, the entire food system is stressed,” the owner of Valu Market, James Newmann, told WAVE 3 News Monday.

As food and supplies get scanned, bagged and put into customers grocery carts, there’s a whole team of people unloading, stacking and replenishing the shelves.

“Everybody needs something,” Missy Greenia, a shopper, said. “We don’t need to hoard everything; we have to think about others and have courtesy and respect for them.”

Newmann said because there’s been an uptick in customers, the store has had to do some outsourcing and creative thinking.

“You’re not going to see bare shelves; people just have to really be patient,” he said. “We’ve had conversations with our wholesalers, and they’ve been in conversation with their peers, whether it be chains or other independent wholesalers. And there’s going to be limits on what they can handle, what the trucking can handle and what will get in the stores.”

Corporate stores have posted notices on Facebook or on their websites about how they are managing during the coronavirus. A Target official told WAVE 3 News the company has expanded its payroll hours, allowing it to bring on more employees and clean surfaces every 30 minutes.

A Meijer official said its company is shifting employees’ roles from servicing to packaging.

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