“That’s part of our job, to educate” the public so they can enjoy a safe shopping experience.
Such a goal has created social-distancing markers for checkout, overseen by a Vons employee who keeps the line moving while maintaining a 6-foot — or, as a sign notes, two-cart — distance from each other. All employees are screened daily to make sure no one is running a fever — a common symptom of COVID-19. And there are plenty of employees to test. Crandall said more have been hired to help during the added workload created by the pandemic and most are customers.
Ibarra agreed that about 75% of those working at Vons are customers, which gives them an edge when dealing with those who may be having a bad day. “Everybody is chaotic, some people are upside down” as their jobs are lost, businesses closed, and they are cut off from others, he noted. Even so, “so far, I would say 99% of the time,” everyone is pleasant and understanding of the social distancing as well as the one-way aisles. “People have their own shopping habits,” said Ibarra, and are used to wandering at will, but most comply good-naturedly. Good news is that the shortages have started to ease. “We’ve come back a good percentage” of those things that seemed to fly off the shelves in the panicky days of the stay-at-home orders.
During that time and continuing now is making sure there are not too many shoppers in the store at one time. “We have one way in and one way out,” Crandall said. “When we feel we’ve reached our limit,” customers are asked to line up outside.
“It’s like a water faucet,” said Ibarra. “If it’s full blast, you turn it down.”
All measures, said Crandall, are in the interest of keeping Vons staff and customers safe from the coronavirus. The sole responsibility of many of those hired in recent weeks is cleaning and sanitizing. “They’re wiping down all the time,” she said.
“Touch points,” said Ibarra, such as handles on freezer doors, countertops, basket handles, cart grips and, of course, checkout stands and card machines are constantly wiped with sanitizer and re-wiped. “We want to make sure everyone is safe, and make sure they feel safe,” said Ibarra. “Santa Paula is a small community and we take care of our community.” As an example, he said Vons employee Michelle Thomas has been taking orders for senior customers, shops for them, and then delivers to them.
“It really is times like these,” Crandall noted, “that you really see the good in people.”
