All Longo’s employees undergo daily temperature checks and wear masks to help prevent the spread of the virus. Carts are sanitized and floor signs remind customers of physical distancing practices.PHOTOS COURTESY OF LONGO’S
You’re standing in line to get groceries. A trained security person with a contactless, infrared thermometer is checking customers’ temperatures. He’s wearing a mask and so are you. Welcome to the seemingly endless, yet constantly fluctuating, new normal during the COVID-19 pandemic.
How we shop today may be an indication of where shopping is headed in the future, but for now, retailers are doing their part to stay afloat while keeping their customers and employees safe.
GROCERY STORES
Grocery stores are considered essential retail services although individual stores and chains are varied in their responses. Some outlets do temperature checks of customers, for example, while others do not.
“We started doing temperature checks and most people are happy we’re doing it,” says Anthony Longo, president and chief executive officer of grocery chain Longo’s, which has 37 locations across the Greater Toronto Area. “We ask that people monitor their own health and strongly encourage all consumers to wear masks when they come into our stores.”
All Longo’s employees undergo daily temperature checks and wear masks.
“We want to make sure our team and our guests are safe, and we want to be transparent with our information,” Longo says. “If people aren’t fine, we ask them to shop another day or have someone else shop. If they insist on shopping, we tell them they need to wear a mask.”
Other protective steps include reduced store hours to allow more time to sanitize and restock, and to give employees a rest. A Community Wellbeing Hour between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. is dedicated to seniors and at-risk members of the community, and first responders get special attention.
“If you are a first responder, come to the front of the line and we will take you in at any time,” Longo says. “These people are working so hard for us during crazy shifts and they are saving lives, so we don’t want them to wait.”
The grocery chain has also installed plexiglass shields at checkouts and shoppers are asked to pack their own reusable bags or use store plastic bags. Like most other grocers, Longo’s has stickers on the floors reminding customers to stay six feet apart and arrows to direct traffic.
Grocery Gateway by Longo’s, which is the chain’s online service, has made changes to its delivery policies, including transitioning to accepting only online payments, which stops handling of payment terminals and guest signatures on delivery.
Longo’s had closed one of its Vaughn stores at 9200 Weston Road for two weeks after eight staff members tested positive for COVID-19, then reopened April 24.
How long will these pandemic protections continue?
“We may have three to six months ahead of us in terms of heightened awareness and social distancing, but frankly we likely have 18 to 24 months before a vaccine is in place, so we can’t let our guard down,” Longo says.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF LONGO’S
PHARMACIES
While stores have changed how they handle customers, customers have adapted in their own ways as well, which is impacting how stores do business.
Dean Miller, president and chief executive officer of Whole Health Pharmacy Partners, which has 10 locations in the GTA, says more people now want to have prescriptions delivered rather than fetching them at the store.
“While pharmacists have put into place protective measures such as plexiglass shields, patients appear to still be asking for deliveries,” Miller says. “My advice to customers going into pharmacies is don’t worry, we have done very good education programs. It is safe. And there is no need to worry about drug shortages.”
HOME AND HARDWARE STORES
As seasonal sales for home goods and services traditionally heat up in springtime into summer, Lowe’s Canada, which includes RONA stores, has instituted precautions to keep stores safe and clean, says spokesperson Valérie Gonzalo.
Equipment and surfaces at checkouts such as PIN pads, scanners, registers and counters are disinfected after every customer interaction, she says. Door handles, phones, workstations, shopping cart handles and seats are regularly cleaned.
There are social distancing measures in place and signs reminding customers to practise them. Hours have been reduced and curbside pickup was available when stores in Ontario weren’t open to consumer traffic.
RESTAURANTS
For restaurants and eateries, online orders have been a lifeline. The sector has been hit hard by the pandemic, which closed the dining rooms that are so essential to an industry that has slim margins at the best of times.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF LONGO’S
Dean Labreche, owner and general manager of the Famoso Italian Pizzeria and Bar franchise in the Annex of Toronto, has seen his pickup and delivery orders increase dramatically.
He considers himself lucky that he’s on an end unit that allows him an easily accessible pickup window for customers. Labreche uses Skip the Dishes, Uber Eats and DoorDash for delivery. Regardless, he made sure that he got Lysol wipes, protective masks and a good supply of disposable gloves to ensure employees and customers are safe.
“We’ve had to go 100 per cent delivery and curbside takeout,” Labreche says.
“Our customers have adapted quite a bit. We’re a neighbourhood pizzeria with a good following, but we’ve had to make changes.”
In April, he trimmed his staff from more than 30 employees to just himself and three others. He has a glass barrier to keep employees and customers safe and erected signs that guide customers picking up orders.
“We all agree we want to get back to dining in,” he says.
“At this point, we’re adapting, listening to the authorities, responding and going day by day.”
THE RETAIL COUNCIL OF CANADA PROVIDES GUIDANCE
Retail is the largest employment sector in the country with 2.1 million Canadians working in the industry. The sector generates more than $76-billion in wages and employee benefits annually, according to the Retail Council of Canada (RCC), which represents more than 45,000 storefronts in all retail formats.
The RCC’s national #ShopSmart campaign details precautions and guidelines that grocery and drugstore shoppers can follow during the pandemic.
Diane Brisebois, RCC president and chief executive officer, says the campaign covers everything from signage in stores to encourage social distancing among customers to how stores routinely clean and disinfect.
“How we respond to the pandemic is a moving target and it is redefining the way that we all think about shopping,” she says. “We’re all trying to find the right balance.”
The pandemic’s financial impact on retail has been devastating.
“There is no guarantee of survival whether you are an online player or a brick-and-mortar store,” Brisebois says. “Consumer spending has helped this country bounce back and keep us from a recession in the past. Now, the world is changing for everyone.”
Many companies providing essential services have had to inject money into training their employees on new safety measures, and educating customers on them.
The council’s preliminary projections suggest at least 30 per cent of those that are considered to be non-essential retail businesses, which are the places where people spend discretionary income such as clothing stores, will not survive, she says.
“The pandemic threatens the very fabric of our communities and neighbourhoods, as well as people’s livelihoods,” Brisebois says. “While consumers have every right to shop where we want, it may be time to consider how we might help support local merchants. I will still want to walk down the street and feel it is vibrant with a good mix of stores. We may not think often about it [but] it is an extremely important ecosystem in our lives.”
Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.