Ranking local supermarkets on their COVID-19 protection efforts

Note: This post will be updated should stores improve (or relax) their efforts to enforce social distancing guidelines.

Update 4/17/20:

11:00 AM – Food Lion docked a point for inconsistent mask/glove wearing as reported by observers.

9:45 AM – A Reddit user noted that Whole Foods does indeed staff the entrance when necessary to ensure a safe capacity. The scoring has been updated to reflect this.

Update 4/16/20 7:41 PM – follow-up visit and additional photos added to Food Lion

Governor Roy Cooper and his staff have announced that social distancing is working to lower the curve of COVID-19 infections throughout the state.

Last week Governor Cooper issued Executive Order #131 which outlined requirements for grocery stores and large retailers to keep employees and customers safe from contracting COVID-19.

Among the requirements are policies to enforce maximum occupancy, social distance markings and cleaning and disinfection.

Along with those requirements are recommended policies which include:

• Encouraging the use of face coverings for employees
• Maintain a consistent 6-foot distance from other employees or customers
• Instruct employees to stay home if they are sick
• Place hand sanitizer prominently at entry and exit points or have wipes/sprays that are EPA approved against SARS-CoV-2 available for shopping carts and baskets
• Establish designated shopping times for Seniors and At-Risk Groups
• Post signage reminding customers and employees about required social distancing (at least 6 feet apart)

In addition the following recommendations are established for high-volume retail establishments such as grocery stores and pharmacies:

• Use acrylic or plastic shields at cash registers
• Clearly mark designated entry and exit points
• Provide assistance with routing through aisles in the store (one-way aisles).

Since we have yet to get past the worst period for infection (the top of “the curve”), we visited the local grocery stores in the Ardmore neighborhood and ranked them on 6 points:

• Designated entry/exit signage
• Designated shopping hours for seniors and at-risk groups
• Hand sanitizer/wipes/sprays at entry/exit points available for shopping carts/baskets – bonus for designated employee sanitizing carts
• Employees wearing protective face coverings
• Enforcement of maximum capacity
• Use of plastic or acrylic shields at registers

Bonus/negative point: One-way aisles to encourage social distancing. Since grocery stores have limited space not all can accommodate one-way aisles. We gave a bonus point to those who have the ability to implement it and a negative point to those with the space/ability to and choose to not.

This assessment is intended to be purely unbiased and based on observations at each store. The purpose of this investigation is to provide the public with information on which stores are embracing measures to protect their customers and staff.

Here is what we found:

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Food Lion (Hawthorne Road) – Score: A-

• √ – Designated entry/exit signage – enter from the right, exit to the left (or right as you are exiting the store)
• √ – Designated shopping hours for seniors and at-risk groups
• √ – Hand sanitizer/wipes/sprays at entry/exit points available for shopping carts/baskets – a staff member is present sanitizing carts
• √ / X – Employees wearing protective face coverings – reported by readers as inconsistent. Some do wear protections and some do not. At the time of our visit those who were wearing them vs. those who were not were about 50:50.
• √ – One-way aisles to encourage social distancing
• √ – Enforcement of maximum capacity
• √ – Use of plastic or acrylic shields at registers
• √ – One-way aisles to encourage social distancing.

Harris Teeter (Thruway) – Score: D-

• X – Designated entry/exit signage- with 2 entrances neither is designated an entry or exit.
• ~ – Designated shopping hours for seniors and at-risk groups – not indicated (no score) – an announcement on their web site indicates they have them but it is not displayed at the store.
• X – Hand sanitizer/wipes/sprays at entry/exit points available for shopping carts/baskets – A stand with pop-up wipes is placed at one entrance but not both.
• X –Employees wearing protective face coverings
• X – Enforcement of maximum capacity- the maximum capacity of this store 168 shoppers but no one is monitoring the capacity.
• √ Use of plastic or acrylic shields at registers
• X – One-way aisles to encourage social distancing.
• Bonus point: the store has a sign indicating there are limits on common high-demand (hoarded) products

See notes below Cloverdale entry.

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Harris Teeter (Cloverdale Plaza) – Score: F

• X – Designated entry/exit signage – with 2 entrances neither is designated an entry or exit.
• ~ – Designated shopping hours for seniors and at-risk groups – not indicated (no score) – an announcement on their web site indicates they have them but it is not displayed at the store.
• X – Hand sanitizer/wipes/sprays at entry/exit points available for shopping carts/baskets – A stand with pop-up wipes is placed at one entrance but not both.
• X – Employees wearing protective face coverings
• X – Enforcement of maximum capacity- the maximum capacity of this store 324 shoppers. While this is a large number which is unlikely to be met there is no apparent effort to monitor capacity.
• √ – Use of plastic or acrylic shields at registers
• X – One-way aisles to encourage social distancing.

Both Harris Teeters do a basic minimum in placing “stand here” stickers on the floor. Few are social distancing. No other apparent efforts are being made.

Trader Joe’s (Thruway) – Score: A

• √ – Designated entry/exit signage
• √ – Designated shopping hours for seniors and at-risk groups
• √ – Hand sanitizer/wipes/sprays at entry/exit points available for shopping carts/baskets – an employee works at the front to sanitize shopping carts as well as enforce the maximum capacity
• √ – Employees wearing protective face coverings
• √ – Enforcement of maximum capacity
• √ – Use of plastic or acrylic shields at registers
• √ – One-way aisles to encourage social distancing – Partial credit – Trader Joes has very few aisles that are quite wide. Six-foot indicator markings are taped on each aisle and reminders to maintain a safe distance are prominently placed on each aisle.

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Publix (Miller Street) – Score: A+

• √ – Designated entry/exit signage
• √ – Designated shopping hours for seniors and at-risk groups
• √ – Hand sanitizer/wipes/sprays at entry/exit points available for shopping carts/baskets
• √ – Employees wearing protective face coverings
• √ – One-way aisles to encourage social distancing
• √ – Enforcement of maximum capacity (269)
• √ – Use of plastic or acrylic shields at registers
• √ – One-way aisles to encourage social distancing – Publix goes the extra mile by placing arrows and X marks even throughout areas such as the produce area and areas that are not cleanly delineated by proper aisles.

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Whole Foods Market (Miller Street) – Score: A+

• √ – Designated entry/exit signage
• √ – Designated shopping hours for seniors and at-risk groups
• √ – Hand sanitizer/wipes/sprays at entry/exit points available for shopping carts/baskets
• √ – Employees wearing protective face coverings
• √ – One-way aisles to encourage social distancing
• √ – Enforcement of maximum capacity
• √ – Use of plastic or acrylic shields at registers
• √ – One-way aisles to encourage social distancing

Updated 4/17/20 9:45 AM – A Reddit commenter at reddit.com/r/winstonsalem noted that Whole Foods does indeed staff the entrance when necessary to ensure a safe capacity. The scoring has been updated to reflect this by replacing the X with a √ and improving the score to A+.

If you visit a grocery store or pharmacy that is in violation of the requirements you are asked to report it to CityLink through their web site (preferred) or by calling 3-1-1.

We welcome your thoughts and feedback if a store improves their efforts or if they relax their standards.