March 11 was a typical day until news broke, almost simultaneously, that Spring Break was starting start a week early and that Disneyland was closed.
“An avalanche of people came in to buy groceries; business tripled,” Michael Roth of Roth’s Fresh Markets said. “They went from buying mostly fresh food to mostly staples. We don’t normally sell a lot of dried beans or huge bags of rice; they bought yeast; they bought flour.
“We don’t sell much Spam but at this point, until more is actually made, you’re probably not going to find a can of Spam in any grocery store.
“We always keep two trucks of toilet paper, along with bottled and gallon water, at our warehouse on the outside chance of a Cascadia earthquake so I believe we had toilet paper longer than any other store but eventually all our stock was gone,” said Roth who, as of last week, was waiting for TP along with everybody else.
“We should probably have put a limit on it earlier, but we were under a false sense of security with the two trucks,” Roth said. “Though the governor said grocery stores won’t close, for some it’s an insurance policy.”
When it comes to such items, Roth would “much rather make 400 people a little bit happy than make 100 people really happy.”
Meanwhile, employees continue to step up.
“Roth’s has always had phenomenal people and I’m so grateful they want to come in and help people get what they need,” Roth said. “Our customers have been patient with us, and we’re doing the very best we can in these unprecedented times.
“We’ve had ‘Roth’sToGo!’ for years,” Roth said. “It’s a phenomenal program where you shop online and drive by for it. However, we had to change our service fee. There’s been no charge if you give us six hours; now it’s $5.95 with six hours’ notice and free if you give us 24 hours.”
Roth thought his idea to put Plexiglas shields at the registers was original and, though that proved untrue, it solved the problem of distancing for those passing money back and forth.
“We’re doing a tremendous amount more cleaning of touchpoints throughout the store,” Roth said. “We’ve been cleaning the credit card terminals so much that they’re failing because of alcohol getting into the keys. I guess that shows we’re doing our job.”
Other area markets also have been busy during the COVID-19 virus outbreak, and setting purchase limits to ensure product availability.
“As we all continue to navigate through this public health crisis together, we are continuing to do everything we can to prioritize the health and safety of our customers, our communities and our associates,” said Jill McGinnis, director of communications and public affairs for Safeway and Albertsons in Oregon and Southern Washington. “And we are continuing to ensure our customers have access to the food, medications and other essential goods they need,” McGinnis said.
Safeway stores get daily deliveries, so customers are asked to follow buying limits on some high-demand items such as toilet paper and sanitizing products, McGinnis said.
“We have run low on these items off and on over the course of the last couple of weeks,” she said. “We are not encouraging shopping for additional items outside of normal weekly needs. Stocking up only makes it more difficult for your neighbors to obtain what they need.”
McGinnis said Safeway associates are “truly the people to thank for keeping our stores and pharmacies operating to provide an essential service for our customers and the communities we serve. That is why we announced that our front-line associates will receive a temporary $2 per-hour-worked increase, above and beyond their regular hourly pay and overtime.
“We cannot express enough thanks for our associates’ dedication during this unprecedented time,” she added. “They’re working hard to support their neighbors and provide essential services to our community. Be sure to tell them thank you the next time you’re in.”
