Are senior shopping hours working in Beaufort County stores? Not for everyone
Before the sun rose on Tuesday, Jacqueline Jones arrived at the Lady’s Island Publix parking lot.
It was 6:15 a.m., about 45 minutes before the grocery store would open its doors for an hour of senior-only shopping.
Publix and multiple other large grocery chains, such as Kroger, Walmart, Target, and Food Lion, recently designated specific hours on certain days to allow seniors, who are more vulnerable to the coronavirus, to shop.
Jones, a Dataw Island resident, doesn’t typically participate in special shopping events, but decided to give this one a try.
She’d later regret it.
As she sat in her car slipping coffee, she watched as countless other cars drove up.
“The parking lot was full by 20 minutes to 7,” she said. “There wasn’t a parking spot to be found.”
When she approached the group of people waiting for the doors to be unlocked, she noticed not everyone was practicing the 6-foot social distancing rule.
Then, when the doors opened, that rule disappeared and a flood of people flowed into the store.
“I’ve never been to Spain, but I’d say it was like the running of the bulls,” she said. “They just flew in the door and I knew they were going to go straight and left toward the paper products aisle so I went right.”
To her dismay, she found that a lot of items weren’t in stock. She says she’ll never participate in senior shopping hour again.
Jones’ experience raises questions and concerns about senior shopping and whether it is really any safer for the customers it’s designed to protect,. They were, afterall, as close together as groups on the beaches would be.
Despite that, some stores say they’ve received positive feedback.
“The move to designated hours has been received positively by seniors and at-risk customers,” Felix Turner, corporate affairs manager for Kroger’s Atlanta Division, said. “They appreciate we have a dedicated person cleaning the carts as they enter the store and a management person greeting them in foyer.”
Rebecca Thomason, a senior manager with Walmart’s corporate communications, said all Walmart stores and Sam’s Clubs have also been taking special precautions such as installing floor decals at the entrances and in checkout lanes to make it easier for customers to judge the proper social distance from one another.
Both Walmart and Publix have also announced that plexiglass barriers will be installed at all cash registers within the next few weeks.
Despite those steps, Jones still isn’t sold.
“The (senior hours) sound like a great idea and I know the workers are trying their hardest, but I don’t know if it’ll ever work,” she said.
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