The Giant store at 1880 Leithsville Road, Hellertown, is one of nearly 20 wihch the company operates in the Lehigh Valley area. All local grocery chains have been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak and been forced to adjust their hours and sale procedures in response to it. (FILE PHOTO)
The Giant Company has become one of the latest retailers to further restrict the manner in which customers are able to shop in its stores, as part of an effort to help fight the spread of the novel coronavirus.
In an update Monday, the company said all of its store aisles will be converted to one-way, to help promote the social distancing experts say is helping to slow the contagion.
Other measures that are being adopted in Giant stores effective immediately include establishing a single entrance and exit in each store and instituting “register queuing,” which the company said is “directing flow of traffic to registers.”
The new measures will “further support social distancing in our stores and ensure a safe environment for both our team members and customers,” the company said, adding that the measures “will be communicated to customers by in-store signage and team members dedicated to educating customers on the changes to their shopping experience.”
The new measures will be in effect until further notice and will apply to both customers and employees.
In other retail news related to COVID-19, Rite Aid announced Monday that it is allowing employees who work in its stores to wear masks and gloves at their discretion as well as installing Plexiglas shields for extra protection at its front end and pharmacy counters.
“Rite Aid has also established social distancing procedures that include marking floor areas in front of the pharmacy and front end counters with tape to ensure 6-foot separation,” said CEO Heyward Donigan in a letter posted on RiteAid.com. Donigan added that Rite Aid “has also established a strict protocol when an associate is confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19, including closing the store for a comprehensive sanitizing regimen that ensures the store is germ-free before reopening.”
Rite Aid has a store at 110 Main Street in Hellertown, among others in the area.
Giant has stores at 1880 Leithsville Road, Lower Saucon Township, and 216 E. Fairmount Street, Coopersburg, as well as a number of others across the region.
As of Monday, more stringent protocols for cleaning and disinfecting buildings that are at least 50,000 square feet in size took effect in Pennsylvania, following the signing of an order by state Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine last week.
The order, which was executed as a measure to help control the spread of the coronavirus, will impact many supermarket chains that do business in the state.
“Based upon the manner of COVID-19’s spread in the commonwealth and in the world, and its danger to Pennsylvanians, I have determined that the appropriate disease control measure is the direction of building safety measures as outlined in this order to prevent and control the spread of disease,” Levine said.
The measures outlined in the order are for owners of buildings of at least 50,000 square feet used for commercial, industrial or other enterprises, and including but not limited to warehouses, manufacturing facilities, commercial offices, airports, grocery stores, universities, colleges, government, hotels and residential buildings with at least 50 units.
More information about the order is available on Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf’s site.