One-way aisles, occupancy limits among the new measures taken by grocers amid outbreak
As grocery stores continue to operate during the coronavirus outbreak as essential businesses, new rules have been implemented in recent days to encourage social distancing.
On Monday, Safeway/Albertsons and QFC all announced they were moving to one-way aisle traffic to help keep people separated.
In a statement from Safeway/Albertsons, the grocery retailer said it would “limit the number of customers who can be inside the store at one time to roughly 30 percent of the stores’ capacity.
“Additionally, the stores will implement a one-way movement policy in the aisles, which will be marked to provide direction.“
The chain also said it had sourced both reusable and disposable cloth masks for all employees.
“All of the enhancements in safety measures will be complete by the end of this week,” the company said.
It also is offering “free same-day and next-day delivery of prescriptions to patients via ScriptDrop through at least May 1.”
QFC said it would start to limit customer occupancy of its store to 50 percent of building code capacity starting April 7.
“We chose this threshold because it allows for proper physical distancing in all of our different formats. QFC will also begin a test pilot program of one-way aisles in our stores,” according to Tiffany Sanders, QFC corporate affairs manager, in an email announcing the new measures.
According to a statement from QFC describing the process:
“The standard building capacity for a grocery store is 1 person per 60 square feet. Under Kroger’s new reduced capacity limits, the number will be 1 person per 120 square feet. Kroger will begin to monitor the number of customers per square foot in its stores using its industry-leading QueVision technology, which already provides a count of the customers entering and exiting stores.”
QFC also is temporarily waiving fees for prescription delivery via mail or courier and encouraged patients to contact their pharmacy for details.
Fred Meyer late Monday also announced the same occupancy limits for its stores.
The new measures arrived the same day the state’s Department of Labor & Industries issued guidelines for grocers. Among the guidelines is prohibiting reusable shopping bags and providing single-use bags for groceries and to be aware of employees who may be showing signs or illness, as well as customers.
“For example, it might be helpful to move a coughing customer out of line to a separate checkout station distant from others,” the guidelines state.
Walmart late last week also announced its own one-way aisle policies at stores, along with restrictring stores to allow no more than five customers per 1,000 square feet at a given time, “roughly 20 percent of a store’s capacity,” it said in a corporate blog notice April 3.
Last week, the retailer announced it would be administering temperature checks of workers before shifts.
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 2:06 PM.
