Strict Rules in Place for Shoppers

A whole new set of rules and restrictions are having to be enforced at everyone’s favourite place to go wild, the grocery store. 

The experience of grocery shopping is but one of the ways the world has truly changed over the past few weeks. If you’re the one who is delegated to go out of the safety of home and undertake the mission for the household, you know how these changes look. 

With limits to how many can shop at one time, some spouses, and even children, are being asked to wait out in the car. 

“We only limit 50 in the store, so we would prefer that it’s groups of one, versus a group of five, because then that’s taking shopping away from four other families,” explained Janelle Grant, General Manager of the Wholesale Club in Weyburn.  

She said, like many grocers throughout society currently, they are encouraging people to not bring their own reusable bags from home. This is due to the possibility of contamination of the surfaces. 

“If you do bring your own bags, we ask that you keep them in the cart and pack them in the carts,” she requested.  

If people are gathering in the aisles for ‘reunion’ conversations, Grant said they will stop you and ask you to respect the six-foot distance. 

“We do have reminders that come over the intercom asking you to respect the social distancing, and to pay with debit and credit versus cash. We do it politely. You know, ‘don’t forget about the social distancing’ as we walk by. The cashiers are very good. They will tell you to step outside the yellow line.” 

Grant noted they have yellow lines to mark the six-foot distance around the tills for the safety of the cashiers and the shoppers. 

The modified hours are accommodating for seniors, pregnant women, those who are immune compromised, and anyone with a disability, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. They are then open to the public from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.  

She noted that while they close at 5:00 p.m, they’re stocking shelves until 1:00 a.m. 

Since they can only allow 50 people in the building, once they get that 50, they have to wait until somebody comes out before somebody else can go in. 

“Once you’ve done your shopping, we ask that everybody goes to aisle 19 and lines up, and then we’ll direct you to which till can go next, so, at times we only have four or five tills running,” Grant said. 

It’s all kept in check by added security measures. 

“We have a security guard hired for the door. He’s counting the number of people coming in and out,” she said. “There is also either a cashier or myself in the lobby.” 

She shared their protocol for keeping carts sanitized. 

“The carts, every day, are brought in, they’re sanitized. The carts and the baskets in the lobby are cleaned and sanitized. The ones in the outside corral are not, so we ask that you leave those ones outside, we’ll bring them in as we need them, and clean them down.” 

Grant said all of the direction comes from head office. 

“And we’re a little touchy on it, because we have had one Store Manager in Ontario pass away from the virus, and another colleague last week in Ontario has contracted the virus, so we’re taking it a little bit personally,” she shared. 

“Please remember the six-foot distancing, wash your hands, can’t stress that enough, and don’t' touch your face,” she reminded. 

So while the shopping experience is different for everyone, the modifications are solely for the purpose of safety for everyone. Every household needs groceries, and every household also wants to stay COVID-free.

You can follow the Wholesale Club on Facebook, where they keep updates of current information on changes and policies. Find the link HERE.