In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Dollar General Corp. announced Monday that it will allow elderly customers and other “at-risk populations” only during its first hour open each day. Though the measure isn’t enforceable, CEO Todd Vasos asks customers to observe it voluntarily in the company’s more than 16,000 stores, Kelly Tyko reports for USA Today. Stores will also close an hour early so staff can clean and restock.
Dollar General has a large and expanding presence in rural America, an area with a disproportionate share of senior residents. COVID-19 is deadliest for people over age 60 and those with underlying health issues, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Tyko reports.
Other stores are taking the same or similar measures, in the U.S. and around the world. The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., which operates a chain of stores in the northeastern U.S., will allow only shoppers age 60 and over from 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. starting Thursday, Tyko reports.
Texas supermarket chain H-E-B said it will not implement special hours for vulnerable customers, and said that data showed that it was not the “best and safest option” for customers, David Williams reports for CNN. But H-E-B and other major grocery chains such as Kroger and Walmart are reducing store hours for cleaning and restocking, Shannon Liao reports for CNN Business.
(The Rural Blog is published by the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based at the University of Kentucky.)
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
