Grocery stores across Santa Maria are rising to the coronavirus challenge by designating specific morning hours for people most affected by product shortages. It’s just one way that local businesses are stepping up to make sure that the most vulnerable populations are getting what they need in times of empty shelves and uncertainty.
“Monday through Friday from 7 to 9 [a.m.], we’re inviting seniors to come in and do their shopping,” Albertsons Assistant Manager Rene Santillan told the Sun. “If there’s a line at the door, we welcome them in first. If there’s other people under 65 we have them wait a little bit. We try to tell them to be here first thing in the morning, because that’s usually when loads are here for vendors, so they’re able to purchase their needs.”
Albertsons’ Santa Maria store also offers curbside pickup and is taking extra precautions to protect customers throughout the day.
“Throughout the day we’re continuously sanitizing. The departments are cleaning the handles, the doors, things the customers would be touching,” Santillan said. “Even though we close at 9, we’re here until midnight cleaning and sanitizing the store.”
Vallerta Supermarkets—with two Santa Maria stores located at 1482 S. Broadway and 1875 N. Broadway—are following similar steps to help those who need it most in the midst of the pandemic.
“We do have 7 to 8 in the morning only for seniors, pregnant women, and disabled people,” Vallarta Third Store Director Martha Maldonado told the Sun. “We have two security guards on each door. We open the doors at 7 [and] make sure they can come in. We also marked the lines 6 feet apart so the customers know when they’re ready to pay … they have to be 6 feet apart from each other.”
Vallarta is also practicing heightened sanitary practices by instructing every department in the store to clean twice an hour.
“Every 30 minutes, all departments need to sanitize their area,” Maldonado said. “We stop doing what we’re doing and make sure we sanitize our area and then go back to work.”
Both Albertsons and Vallarta store managers expressed that the general public can help supermarkets and grocery stores to keep up with demand by following the rules, being courteous to vulnerable populations, and only taking what they need.
“If they come in, just to do their daily shopping, not buy months in advance,” Santillan said of how citizens can do their part. “Our warehouses are running low. Everybody came in for toilet paper and canned goods and now the warehouses are running low on all that product.”
Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Glenn Morris told the Sun that grocery stores are not only serving the vital food needs of the community, but also helping the overall economy by keeping their doors open.
“To the extent that businesses can stay open and keep at least a portion of their employees working and paid … it keeps dollars flowing through the system,” Morris said. “If people are still getting paid, then they’re still paying their rent, the landlord can then pay his employees, and it keeps rolling.”
Morris encouraged people to keep their shopping habits as close to normal as possible, and emphasized that local stores are beginning to catch up with demand.
“We don’t all need to shop at 7 a.m. or at 5:30 in the afternoon—go throughout the day. … Buy what you need, leave some for somebody else,” Morris said. “Many of the stores are fairly well restocked right now, and their supply chains are still working. There’s not a need to rush in and buy everything on the shelves.”
Malea Martin wrote this week’s Spotlight. Send ideas to spotlight@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 2-9, 2020.
