(Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

Early Hours for Seniors

Local stores opening early for seniors only during COVID-19 pandemic

Mar 18, 2020 | 5:00 PM

Seniors are some of the most vulnerable people when it comes to contracting the coronavirus. So to help seniors in Melfort and area, Prairie North Co-op Food Stores, and Cindy’s Independent Grocer are just two of the stores that are adjusting some of their hours.

Both stores have announced they will open for an hour in the morning for seniors only to allow them to shop when the store is less busy.

Owner of Cindy’s Independent, Cindy Quinton said they are also adjusting their general hours to allow for staff to be at home more, and to allow for a crew to come and deep clean every night.

“This way, when the seniors come in shopping in the morning, first off it reduces the volume,” she said. “And then they can shop comfortably and knowing that it’s clean for them.”

Cindy’s will be opening for seniors from 7 to 8 a.m. The schedule began earlier this week. They’ll also close earlier now, shutting the doors at 8 p.m. On top of that, Loblaw’s has given direction to all of their family of stores, including Cindy’s to make sure staff are washing hands frequently. That led to Cindy’s to get some hand wash stations brought in by Greenland Waste.

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Meanwhile, at Prairie North Co-op, their store will open from 8 to 9 a.m. for seniors. Food Store Manager Whitney Rogers said this will help everyone get what they need.

“We’re just trying to limit the amount of people,” she said. “Seeing as that we’ve had quite an influx of customers coming into our store.”

Prairie North Co-op also made a Facebook post promoting increased sanitary protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both the Co-op and Independent said they will continue to open early for seniors as long as they feel necessary. Shoppers Drug Mart also said they will start having early times for seniors to come in as well and shop.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6