Grocery chains prep for holidays as COVID cases rise

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    Kansas City, MO (KCTV) — Does this happen to you too? Your spouse sends you to the store with a list of things to buy, but once you’re done roaming the aisles you still have items on your list you couldn’t find on store shelves?

Dawn Buzynski, the director for strategic communications at Hy-Vee, says this isn’t new for them. They’ve been working for months to anticipate purchasing habits with new coronavirus spikes and shopping into the holidays.

“We’re closely monitoring buying habits and buying patterns on certain items in the store at a store level and at a corporate level and we are evaluating as needed, and making a determination if we need to limit certain items, but only to ensure there are plenty on the shelves for all of our customers,” said Buzynski.

In the beginning of the pandemic, grocers saw huge gains in the use of both website and phone app grocery shopping and in services like Instacart.

“We are again seeing a huge uptick in customers who are switching to ordering their groceries online,” said Buzynski.

If you’re leaning towards ordering online, remember that you not only pick out the items you want but also possible substitutes. You also need to confirm a curbside pickup or delivery time. Buzynski’s final piece of advice for consumers is to continue to shop as you normally would.

“We’re working very closely with our suppliers to make sure that we have enough items on hand to meet all of our customer’s needs. So, we’re really asking for our customers not to buy up large quantities of high bead items so that there’s plenty on the shelves for everybody.”

Hy-Vee is also dealing with increased demand by hiring more permanent and temporary employees. Just this week they announced 10,000 new and part time positions across the Midwest including nearly 450 in Kansas City.

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