Food demand stays strong
Customers continue to stock up at Graul’s Market and workers are doing their best to keep shelves stocked and aisles cleaned
Gov. Larry Hogan has set the state back on a path to reopening and a new sense of normalcy, but at Graul’s Market in Annapolis, things still feel like the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Customers continue to stock up and workers are doing their best to keep shelves stocked and aisles cleaned.“This is the only sense of normalcy people have, they go home and eat and come back,” said Tom Michael, store manager. “We are jammed packed every day.
High customer demand continues, prompting the supermarket to receive delivery trucks every day of the week.
As the pandemic continues, store shelves are empty because employees just can’t stock fast enough.
“Half the shelves are empty not because we aren’t ordering the product but because demand is so high,”
Michael said. “It’s not just us, it is every store. But we are lucky, because we are an independent store so we can draw from a bunch of different people.”
Michael believes a lot of employees are stressed during these times, and he worries about employees and customers getting sick. “A doctor and nurse know who is sick, we at the store have no idea,” Michael said. “This is like playing Russian roulette. It’s only human nature, we all want to survive.”
Working at a grocery store is often presented to young adults as an Produce clerk John Still puts out fresh avocados as high customer demand continues.
PAUL W. GILLESPIE/BALTIMORE SUN MEDIA opportunity to learn responsibility and handling money. But now grocery workers are considered frontline employees and an essential workforce.
And it is hard to do that work safely when not everyone is listening.
“It is a little rough sometimes, people are supposed to stay six feet apart but no one listens,” Said John Still, a stocker at Graul’s. “I want to work, and I need the money, but at the same time I don’t want to get sick. It is a little complicated at times.”
Still continues to go to work every day because he feels it is the right thing to do.
The federal government has provided boosts to unemployment though Maryland’s website and the demand has made collecting on that difficult. Also, unemployment is only given on involuntary separations from work.
Customers continue to stock up and workers are doing their best to keep shelves stocked and aisles cleaned.“This is the only sense of normalcy people have, they go home and eat and come back,” said Tom Michael, store manager. “We are jammed packed every day.
High customer demand continues, prompting the supermarket to receive delivery trucks every day of the week.
As the pandemic continues, store shelves are empty because employees just can’t stock fast enough.
“Half the shelves are empty not because we aren’t ordering the product but because demand is so high,”
Michael said. “It’s not just us, it is every store. But we are lucky, because we are an independent store so we can draw from a bunch of different people.”
Michael believes a lot of employees are stressed during these times, and he worries about employees and customers getting sick. “A doctor and nurse know who is sick, we at the store have no idea,” Michael said. “This is like playing Russian roulette. It’s only human nature, we all want to survive.”
Working at a grocery store is often presented to young adults as an Produce clerk John Still puts out fresh avocados as high customer demand continues.
PAUL W. GILLESPIE/BALTIMORE SUN MEDIA opportunity to learn responsibility and handling money. But now grocery workers are considered frontline employees and an essential workforce.
And it is hard to do that work safely when not everyone is listening.
“It is a little rough sometimes, people are supposed to stay six feet apart but no one listens,” Said John Still, a stocker at Graul’s. “I want to work, and I need the money, but at the same time I don’t want to get sick. It is a little complicated at times.”
Still continues to go to work every day because he feels it is the right thing to do.
The federal government has provided boosts to unemployment though Maryland’s website and the demand has made collecting on that difficult. Also, unemployment is only given on involuntary separations from work.
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