Staff issues, not supply chain, cited for empty grocery shelves

The omicron variant is taking a toll on grocery workers who can sense customers’ frustration as the workers try to keep shelves stocked and checkout lines moving.

Grocery shopping in DallasFort Worth in recent days feels a bit like 2020, when food processors and consumer goods manufacturers couldn’t keep up with demand for pasta and toilet paper.

But this time the periodic empty shelves aren’t about the supply chain, experts say.

Stores and warehouses are being hit by worker shortages, said Gary Huddleston, grocery industry consultant to the Texas Retailers Association.

Shoppers should expect to use self-checkout lanes as the fourth spike in the pandemic leaves waves of workers suddenly out sick, he said.

“Either other employees work overtime or the shift goes empty,” Huddleston said. That leaves groceries on trailers, in stockrooms or at distribution centers, he said.

“The pandemic and the shortage of workers continues to wear on everyone,” said Jennifer Foley-Howard, a spokeswoman for the UFCW Local 1000. The union, based in Grapevine, Texas, represents 8,000 North Texas workers at Kroger.

“Members are dealing with omicron and a lot of anxiety,” she said. “They are tired and overworked.” Local 1000 has hundreds of workers out with covid-19 on top of unfilled jobs, which raises the number of missing workers into the thousands, Foley-Howard said.

The first reported case of the coronavirus omicron variant in Texas was in Houston 40 days ago. Since then, the virus has spread rapidly, and it hasn’t yet peaked in North Texas.

In the past two weeks, Walmart has temporarily closed three stores in Dallas, Fort Worth and Richardson, Texas, for professional cleaning after an increase in positive covid-19 cases.

Grocery chains, including Kroger and Central Market, have reinstated mandatory mask-wearing for employees and are encouraging customers to wear masks. Several area school districts — including Forney, Mesquite and Mansfield — announced temporary closings last week, forcing some parents to stay home from work.

That also contributes to worker shortages, Huddleston said. And school closings combined with more people being asked to work from home again means groceries are suddenly in higher demand.

Store employees are hustling.

At 9 a.m. Jan. 14, employees at a Kroger on Forest Lane in Dallas were trying to get the store set for the weekend. The perimeter of the store, where fresh and refrigerated cases line the walls with produce, dairy and meat, was fully stocked. Only a few aisles — cereal and pasta — were short of products but not empty.

Likewise, a Tom Thumb on West Northwest Highway, Central Market on Lovers Lane and a Walmart in North Dallas looked ready for the weekend.

Walmart employees said online orders have definitely picked up with the omicron surge. That is making curbside pickup slots harder to get from area grocers.

Stores are depending more on self-checkout lanes.

During the pandemic, most national chains made aggressive plans to install and expand selfcheckout lanes. About 61% of grocers surveyed by the food industry association FMI last year said they plan to reintroduce or enhance self-service to make checkout more convenient.

Self-checkout has been around since the 1990s, when the experience wasn’t pleasant and the industry pulled back. It’s back because technology is better and consumers are using it.

According to FMI, 29% of all grocery store transactions in 2020 were completed in selfcheckout lanes, up from 23% in 2019 and 18% in 2018. For larger chains with more than 100 stores, that number was higher at 31% of transactions in 2020.

Many of those consumers are using online delivery or curbside for bigger orders anyway.

Kroger and Walmart are experimenting with all-selfcheckout stores. Kroger’s is in Oak Lawn and Walmart’s is in Plano, Texas. Costco has added self-checkout lanes in its Dallas store on Coit Road.