Updated Monday, Apr. 20
Island grocers are implementing some stringent regulations for customers and employees in order to ensure their safety; but just how effective are these measures?
Owner of Reliable Market, Eddie Pacheco, said he is happy to see that more and more customers are wearing a mask and gloves whenever they come into the store.
“Those numbers are much higher than they were a couple weeks ago,” Pacheco said. “It makes me feel better and makes my employees feel much more safe.”
Although employees are outfitted with masks and plexiglass shields at every counter, Pacheco said it is sometimes difficult to maintain distance from others in an enclosed environment.
“Sometimes it’s hard in the market. We are all taking the necessary precautions, and most shoppers are trying to be patient and keep a good, safe distance,” Pacheco said.
According to Pacheco, one issue is people taking long periods of time to browse and wander around the store while buying their groceries. He said people should come into the store knowing what they need, and minimize the time they spend shopping.
“Some people are taking their time and kind of just walking around, but most people come in with a list and are trying to be quick and efficient,” Pacheco said. “You should come in here with a game plan, make a menu for the week’s dinners at home. Know exactly what you are going to get. The less time you are in that atmosphere, the safer you are, and the safer other people are.”
And while grocery shopping is normally a social experience and a time to see neighbors or old friends, Pacheco said now is not the time to strike up a conversation.
“I know you are used to going to the store and saying hello to your friends, and, especially now, it is often the only opportunity for people to get out of the house. But no matter how bad you want to socialize, you have to know that now is not the time,” Pacheco said.
The final point Pacheco stressed was that, if you feel sick, don’t go grocery shopping. Have a friend, family member, or neighbor get groceries for you. And if you don’t have that option, Pacheco said there are many community service programs that will shop for you, if you are in the susceptible age group, or are sick or immunocompromised.
“We are doing our best to keep serving the Vineyard community, and we need our customers to help us with that goal by being safe,” Pacheco said.
Amy Upton of the Corona Stompers said some local grocery stores are having more luck with deciding on their own rules for shoppers
“It’s a totally new thing. Grocery stores are having to say ‘if you want to come and shop here, you need to act in this way.’ In a way, it’s very un-American and very hard for some to accept,” Upton said.
According to Upton, Cronig’s Market has is laying out generally understood guidelines that customers are adhering to, to the best of their abilities.
Currently, Upton said the Corona Stompers have provided protective equipment such as homemade masks and face shields made by 3D printer owners to Cronig’s, Vineyard Grocer, and Vineyard Haven Stop & Shop. Their next stop is Reliable Market, where Upton said the managerial staff are more than willing to accept protective equipment for their employees. Masks are required in Tisbury per the board of health and are highly recommended by the CDC.
The Corona Stompers were also able to hand out masks to customers at Cronig’s and Vineyard Grocer.
According to Upton, the managers at Vineyard Haven Stop & Shop are gratefully accepting masks from the Corona Stompers.
The real issue on-Island, Upton said, is that locally owned grocery stores have the ability to impose their own regulations, whereas Stop & Shop (a chain grocery store) has to go through proper corporate channels before making changes.
Let’s hear it for Reliable, ELIO at Vineyard Grocer and Vineyard Haven Stop and Shop!
Edgartown Stop and Shop should remember what happened when their staff went on strike. I for one am going to shop in Cronigs from now on. Shame on them for preventing a local organization from handing out masks. We need whatever help we can get at this time.
Cronigs is the best. Better meat, vegetables, everything. So what a little more expensive. They don’t treat their employees like poop. Stop and Shop does. First the strike and now this. I spoke to employees they have such anxiety they are sick to their stomach all day.
The “I-spoke-to-an-employee” hearsay and biased opinion of Ms Upton repeating rumor and unfounded talk about “going up against corporate” should not be part of a news article about safe grocery shopping. It’s inappropriate and unhelpful, but a familiar cry from Cronigs cultists. Every one of all our the food markets and its essential employees is a hero, including managers, owners, cashiers, floor sweepers, butchers, shelf stockers–We are grateful to all. The biased agenda of the mask-maker is obvious. It is perfectly reasonable for any store to turn away people’s well-intentioned efforts that in fact expose others to more unnecessary personal interactions… because they are dangerous to all. There are many how-to, no-sew mask videos available on YouTube which people can and do easily make out of socks, handerchiefs and t-shirts, and people who are good at sewing are safely giving their homemade masks away without any self-promoting fanfare. These good natured folks are all over Islanders Talk. The best and most helpful part of this article comes from Eddie Pacheco who offers the most sound advise about how to safely do your marketing quickly and efficiently and get out of the store. The rest of this is the usual bashing of one store over another. Upton makes no sense about corporate anything, since she imposed herself and her goods successfully in the VH Stop and Shop. Stop and Shop prices are the best on the island, by the way, another aspect of safe food shopping for which many people are grateful. Go to any food store you wish, wear a mask, shop quickly, don’t handle items you don’t intend to buy, keep your distance, follow the arrows, and be appreciative of all essential workers.
I really feel Ms Upton was a little self-serving. If Stop and Shop is handing out masks to their employees why do they need yours? I appreciate your efforts to distribute masks to the public but to liken their refusal to corporate decision making is I’m sure only partially correct. A store like Stop and Shop with it’s much higher risk of liability than you or me has to develop their own health disciplines. I’m going to refrain from the Cronigs versus Stoppies argument and leave it to everyone to make their own decision. I applaud the emplyees at Stop and Shop and Mary McEvoy during this very difficult time.
Thank you for the changes. Much better!
Shop local and shop at places that treat their employees with respect. Shop Cronig’s.