Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay
With grocery stores across the U.S., reducing their hours to deal with the onslaught of customers during the coronavirus pandemic, one grocery chain is bucking the trend and opening some of its stores for 24 hours.
Cub is reportedly opening 11 stores for 24-hour service in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, adding to 13 locations it opened for 24-hour operation in March.
Cub will stagger openings of the stores with two of the locations already open around-the-clock and seven more stores changing their hours on Sunday, the StarTribune reported. Two more locations will reportedly extend their hours on May 3.
"Consumers expect grocery stores to be there for them, and in times of a natural disaster, we're the last to close and the first to open," Mike Stigers, chief executive at Cub told the news outlet. "That's a responsibility we take seriously, and that's why our work is essential now."
While many grocery stores have used the additional closing hours to restock shelves and sanitize their stores, Stigers said the 24-hour operation of Cub stores offers increased social distancing and provides more shopping hours to those that work varied shifts such as first responders and healthcare workers.
"The commitment to safety of our customers and associates is the same high level at our 24-hour stores as it is our other stores," Stigers told the StarTribune. "Over the course of this pandemic, we have enhanced our food safety and cleaning protocols at each store with great success, including the 13 stores that have maintained 24-hour operations. This is evident in the continued high marks we receive on food safety and other third-party audits throughout this crisis."
Cub has taken a number of initiatives to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, including rigorous cleaning and sanitizing as well as adding Plexiglass dividers at all of its checkout lanes. The number of customers allowed in its stores has also been limited, and all employees wear company-provided gloves and masks.
The grocery chain also offers senior shopping hours from 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. at all 78 of its stores.