Hey, there! Log in / Register
You'll have a bit less time to Stop & Shop starting Monday
By adamg on Sat, 03/14/2020 - 9:57pm
Stop & Shop says it's trimming hours at most of its stores on Monday and cancelling its pickup service so that employees can spend more time trying to re-stock shelves that keep getting stripped bare of things such as, well, increasingly almost everything.
In order to allow more time for our associates to unload deliveries, stock shelves, and better serve you throughout the day, we are adjusting our hours to 7:30a.m.-8:00p.m. at most stores beginning Monday, March 16, until further notice. (There may be some exceptions. Please visit your local store location for details. New hours will also be posted on our website Monday.)
As a result of unprecedented demand as well as product shortages in some areas, we have temporarily suspended our online pickup service until further notice. Our store associates will instead focus on stocking product and other key priorities that will better meet the needs of all customers at this time. The service will be made available again once product availability increases.
Also, because of the increased crush of buying, the chain says Peapod customers might see delivery delays - Peapod users are no more immune to the urge to Buy All the Things than people who still drive to stores.
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
More stopping than shopping.
More stopping than shopping.
Wegmans as well
In addition to trimming its hours to allow for more restocking, Wegmans has instituted limits on a long list of products, including, gasp, corn syrup.
good for them
for setting limits. My kid off at grad school had to go all over town to find TP - ended up paying a ridiculous price at a gas station.
Like price-gouging ridiculous?
Hope they saved the receipt if so. I think, or at least hope, we’ll see some fallout in that department when all is said and done.
Don't try getting groceries delivered
Instacart's first open time is Thursday and Whole Foods/Amazon doesn't show any times at all (only goes through Wednesday).
Hmmm...so what do you do if
Hmmm...so what do you do if you have to self-quarantine?
Market Basket in Burlington had toilet paper this evening
It was only single-rolls of Market Basket Brand, but there it was. I didn't buy any, because I actually don't need any.
Also, not much of a crowd. Checkout was a breeze. Your mileage may vary !
The Somerville Market Basket,
The Somerville Market Basket, which on a normal weekend is the craziest grocery store I've ever seen, was also very well stocked. The only issue was a somewhat long checkout line, but I didn't mind.
That's less time TIME
to Stop and Shop
True that.
I get off at 7am and am 5 minutes away walking.
This will just increase the panic.
"Grocery stores are cutting hours! Soon they'll close altogether! Better get my toilet paper now!"
By Saint Patricks Day
Toilet Paper will be harder to find than a pot of gold.
Stop & Shop trimming labor costs
It’s not “more time to clean and stock”, it’s about eliminating labor costs.
I can’t fault them for trimming labor, but I do object to the disingenuous way it is framed here, as if they are doing the public a favor.
I want business to look us in the proverbial eye and says “look, business is slowing down and we have to make tough decisions in order to adapt. Things like a lease are a fixed cost. Labor, on the other hand, is a variable cost and we will need to decrease labor costs as our revenue decreases.”
Don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining, Stop & Shop!
Judging by the long lines and
Judging by the long lines and the fact that food is a necessity, I don’t think business is slowing down for them.
Why would they be trimming labor?
It is one of the few places that is actually making more money than ever. They should probably be hiring in fact....
Employees report as usual
Text and e-mail sent to S&S employees said they should report for their regular shifts and even if the store closes to the public they will be cleaning and stocking. As of today no labor is being cut.
No. They aren't cutting labor
No. They aren't cutting labor. They are making a lot of money right now and their employees are all very busy.
I went to my local Shaw's around 6:30 this morning, a half hour after they open. Many of the shelves were empty but much of the missing the product was being unloaded from pallets. Their employees are already being worked way past capacity, so they can't ask them to put in MORE labor than they already are. Which means if you normally are able to stock your store starting from the regular opening time of 6 AM because the shelves are normally fully stocked already, you can't add extra labor on to get extra employees in on the overnight to fully restock the stores.
Opening later and closing earlier means you can keep your staffing levels the same (which are probably already significantly higher levels than normal) and try to get ahead of the demands.
Be kind. Thank the employees you encounter in stores. I got the impression that some of them have never been thanked by a customer before today, they were caught so off guard by a simple two words.
I can guarantee you they are NOT cutting labor...
I work for Stop & Shop.
They are not cutting labor. All employees are instructed to come in for their regularly scheduled shifts and work them completely, even if those shifts fall within the times the stores will be closed to customers.
Additionally, most stores are offering extra hours and overtime pay to the workers...even to full-timers like myself who aren't supposed to get overtime.
Also, office workers like myself are out on the front end ringing, out on the sales floor unpacking and restocking, or out on the loading dock unloading trucks right beside everyone else...when right now there is no concern for getting any kind of office work completed.
Business might slow down in the days to come, but the last two weeks have been busier than anything anyone has ever seen.
Hey, thank you. I stopped in
Hey, thank you. I stopped in at a Stop & Shop today, as well as a Shaw's and a BJ's. There's a lot of workers out their working their asses off and it shows.
We should probably be extending hours
Why? So that people can spread out when they go to grocery stores. So instead of all crowding in shortened hours, we spread out and socially distance.
It will be interesting to see when the rush on grocery stores subsides as people hole up inside. Until then, go at odd hours if possible, to reduce the strain for people who need to go at regular times.
When are odd hours?
Serious question, it seems that the stores are busy/not busy at random times?
It's not about labor costs
I don't think this has anything to do with labor costs. Stores with long checkout lines are pulling staff from the back to get as many people out of the store as quickly as possible. Furthermore it is difficult to stock a crowded store. By reducing hours they can focus on customers during open hours and stocking/sanitzing during closed hours.
Invisible magic
Truth be told, large gangs of fairies do not come in the night to restock shelves.
In the WABAC machine, I used to edit a grocery magazine and a decade later wrote for a materials-handling one. I went to numerous supermarket and convenience-store HQs, warehouses and data centers. Even then I found it stunning the thousands of tasks involved in clearing, restocking and pricing goods. Factor in whole sections disrupted by panic buying and you can be damned sure the stores are racing to keep pace.
Market Basket restocks while
Market Basket restocks while the store is open, as a way to reduce costs.
This also applies to S&S-owned bfresh store in Davis Square
I just walked by it, and it has the Stop & Shop sign with the same reduced hours.