Are Stores REALLY doing all they can to protect their workers or is it BS?

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Originally Posted by Shwa Girl

@walkonby , drove by a Real Canadian Wholesale club and saw a sign
Do your part:
One per family
(in the club)
One per cart
(keep the rest at home)

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@Shwa Girl ...that's interesting.
Some stores have counted out a specific number of carts and locked the rest of them away.
So lets say there is 80 carts...they place a worker with them out front, a spray bottle and cloth in hand.
They wipe each down and tell you that you MUST take a cart when entering for 2 reasons.
One it makes social distancing easier to do, prevents you from getting too close to other shoppers while you navigate the aisles , and once all 80 carts are in use in the store, no more customers can enter until someone comes out and is finished with their cart.

Very organized.

Was in my local Safeway yesterday...they are making people wash their hands at a hand washing station before entering the store, cart handles are sanitized in front of you before you touch them, all staff are washing their hands every 15 minutes (it is announced to the whole store), staff are disinfecting the handles of the freezers, aisles are marked with tape that they are one way only, and asking patrons to pay with debt or charge cards if they can.

I was pretty impressed with how they are handling things.

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Originally Posted by Linda Evans

possibly..... is everything closed this friday ?

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They are in New Brunswick. I dont know what the stat holiday laws are in each province though.

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Originally Posted by Linda Evans

possibly..... is everything closed this friday ?

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@Linda Evans, if a grocery store is in an area of ON is designated as a tourist district, they can open their grocery store on selected holidays. Some are open on Good Friday and closed on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday.

Update: I checked some store's website and some have posted they are opening on Friday, like 9-5 hours.

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Originally Posted by Shwa Girl

@Linda Evans, if a grocery store is in an area of ON is designated as a tourist district, they can open their grocery store on selected holidays. Some are open on Good Friday and closed on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday.

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I wonder if "tourist" rules applies right now, since there wont be any tourists...

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Originally Posted by Linda Evans

while waiting in line at walmart i heard some people saying they were gonna start closing on sundays along with other grocery stores..... has anyone heard that? id be ok with it....give workers a break.

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The April 9-15 Walmart insert tucked along with their Outdoor guide in today's community bundle did not mention any Sunday closures as a regular thing. But stores will be closed on Good Friday and Sunday.

I noticed that the new Fortinos flyer clarified the one person, one cart rule-allowed to bring someone for assistance. That's the first store that has stated the obvious-some shoppers need assistance in the store.

From Walmart's Facebook page-one adult per family allowed in store. See graphic:
https://www.facebook.com/walmartcana...type=3&theater

https://www.walmart.ca/en/customer-memo

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Our stores look different today. We’ve made changes quickly to prioritize safety and to ensure customers can access the resources they need at the low prices they expect and deserve. For example, we have:

• • Increased cleaning throughout the store.
• • Limited the number of customers shopping in the store at one time and are asking stores to encourage customers to limit store entry to only one adult per family.
• • Installed plexi-glass dividers at registers, customer service desks and in our pharmacies – with more to come.
• • Marked the floor to create social distancing.
• • Instituted product purchasing limits to ensure everyone can access products they want.
• • Temporarily closed photo kiosks, service deli and service bakery, fitting rooms and bulk foods.
• • Temporarily close some of our licensees, such as hair and nail salons and restaurants are closed too.

Demand for online grocery orders through Walmart.ca continues to be high. The team is fulfilling thousands of orders a day. We’re adding more capacity, meaning more pickup and delivery timeslots are opening store-by-store. I want to be fulfilling three-times the orders we are today and we have a bold plan to make it happen. Many of the 10,000 new associates we’re hiring will support our online grocery business.


We’re also piloting a new initiative for our hero frontline healthcare workers. Starting this week, hospital staff can order groceries to a safe location at the hospital. We’re starting with eight hospitals in the Greater Toronto Area and hope to expand as quickly as we can.

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Reading back to some posts I feel more steps by some stores have improved the safety for both workers and customers!
I like the 1 person rule.

Went to Shoppers Drug Mart. They have 3 check out lanes at their disposable but the only cashier attended check out lane that is open is the one right next to the self check outs. Sure there is 6 feet between the actual lanes themselves but put 1 person at the cashier maned lane and 1 person at the self check out and that takes the space available between the lanes down to 4 feet. Problem is that remaining 4 foot space is the only exit out of the store for everyone else that either a) doesn't buy anything or is b) exiting after visiting the pharmacy. Now come on Shoppers Drug Mart use another flipping maned check out lane!!!!

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Originally Posted by coupongirl99

Went to Shoppers Drug Mart. They have 3 check out lanes at their disposable but the only cashier attended check out lane that is open is the one right next to the self check outs. Sure there is 6 feet between the actual lanes themselves but put 1 person at the cashier maned lane and 1 person at the self check out and that takes the space available between the lanes down to 4 feet. Problem is that remaining 4 foot space is the only exit out of the store for everyone else that either a) doesn't buy anything or is b) exiting after visiting the pharmacy. Now come on Shoppers Drug Mart use another flipping maned check out lane!!!!

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Stores are obviously still working out the details of their safety protocols. I haven't been to any SDM in over a month, but at my nearest one, when there was only one lane open, it was always the one beside the self-checkouts. While I'd hope this has changed. it wouldn't be a complete shock if they're still doing the same thing because the idea has never come up. I trust you brought it up before you left.

Just rec'd an email from RCSS in Thunder Bay....they have just had an employee test positive for Covid.

Oh hell yes I brought it up but honestly its amazing to me that SOMEONE in the store would not have thought of that, I mean its common sense. Every other store managed to do it. Canadian Tire was by far the best though. They reorganized the movable display stands to create 1 wrap around aisle leading to all checkouts and removed 1/2 the checkout stands then rearranged the rest so there was plenty of room between each one to protect the customer and the cashier. They could have just opened say every 2nd checkout like other stores have done but they went far and above that. Props to them for sure.

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Originally Posted by Arjon

Stores are obviously still working out the details of their safety protocols. I haven't been to any SDM in over a month, but at my nearest one, when there was only one lane open, it was always the one beside the self-checkouts. While I'd hope this has changed. it wouldn't be a complete shock if they're still doing the same thing because the idea has never come up. I trust you brought it up before you left.

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I appreciate how pleasant most of the grocery store staff are. The whole vibe in stores feels weird to me, and it helps when a person says "Have a good day" or the like.

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Originally Posted by coupongirl99

Oh hell yes I brought it up but honestly its amazing to me that SOMEONE in the store would not have thought of that, I mean its common sense. Every other store managed to do it. Canadian Tire was by far the best though. They reorganized the movable display stands to create 1 wrap around aisle leading to all checkouts and removed 1/2 the checkout stands then rearranged the rest so there was plenty of room between each one to protect the customer and the cashier. They could have just opened say every 2nd checkout like other stores have done but they went far and above that. Props to them for sure.

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Good for you for making sure the store was made aware they could easily do better. I agree that by now, the store's management should either have figured this out or observed better practices elsewhere. It's disappointing that they weren't doing better, but common sense is common, not universal. Now that they're aware of a better way, continuing to do the same thing would be far worse than just not having thought to change.

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Originally Posted by wendymac

I appreciate how pleasant most of the grocery store staff are. The whole vibe in stores feels weird to me, and it helps when a person says "Have a good day" or the like.

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We can all help in this regard. Years ago, I started making sure to say "hi, how are you today?" to the cashier every time I check out, as well as "thanks", "have a good day" or similar before walking away unless I experience poor service or attitude. If became second nature quite quickly. The few times I've shopped in recent weeks, I've added "stay safe" or similar.

In retrospect, I was and still am disappointed in myself that there was a time when I didn't do these small, virtually effortless things every time.