Front Lines: Grocery store employees fill vital role in pandemic

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When bad weather looms — particularly in winter — people go to the grocery store. While the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t exactly the same as an impending blizzard, the same rules seem to apply. In the past three months, no one has come face-to-face with more Perry County residents than the employees at Rozier’s Food Centre in Perryville. Rozier’s President Jay Lottes understands why his store has seen an uptick in business since the COVID-19 pandemic. “You just didn’t have restaurants open and people are just coming to town to go get things they need like food,” Lottes said. Although Lottes enjoys seeing his business booming, he knows that it can be a blessing and a curse during these uncertain times. “It certainly can be,” Lottes said. “The staff has been working very hard to keep up and I feel like they have been doing a great job through all of this. I’m very thankful for them.” One of those curses has been the ability to keep the shelves stocked. During the beginning phases of the pandemic, employee were having trouble keeping certain items available, especially toilet paper, hand sanitizer, along with other cleaning supplies. Lottes said that things have improved as time has went on. “It’s been better, but it’s not fully there yet,” Lottes said. “The main ones are of course toilet paper and hand sanitizer. We are getting it in, but it doesn’t last long. It seems like yeast has been a big item this year because they are staying home and baking more. We haven’t had shortfalls on meat like some areas have, so I have to be thankful for our warehouse and meat department that they have stepped up at this time.” However for Lottes, the whole situation doesn’t make him nervous, but it does make him more aware of his surroundings. “I take it day by day,” Lottes said. “I wear the masks and gloves in the mornings. I try to keep my hands as clean as possible as I move around the different buildings and in the mornings as I work with the seniors.” The store is offering a special hour for seniors to make their purchases while avoiding the large crowds that have been the norm for the past week as residents try to stock up on essentials during the COVID-19 pandemic. Customers aged 60 and over — who are considered to be among those most susceptible to the virus — will be able to shop between 6:30-7:30 a.m. daily without having to worry about crowds. Lottes explained that the seniors time in the store may be extended to 8 a.m. in the future. Some other measures being taken at this time are the consistent cleaning of the carts and the reduction of the five check-out areas to three. The biggest is probably the limitation of 45 customers at a time in the store. Lottes said that they have asked customers to do their best to shop in 15-20 minutes to reduce the flow of customers in the store. “It can be difficult sometimes because we have to do the math on paper or use a counting app,” Lottes said. “We’ve had a couple of days where it was busy, but we rarely had a time when more than three or four customers waiting outside and if we did, they didn’t have to wait more than a couple minutes. We may have to be more strict on that if business picks up during Memorial Day weekend.” Lottes is being careful to keep both his business and customers safe during this time and knows that is the best course of action. “I know that we will keep three registers open for the foreseeable future,” Lottes said. “I want to gradually get back to a place where we can feel comfortable shopping.”