How a trip to the local supermarket became such a privileged treat
We can finally get out of our compound! It was such a pleasure to shop again in a supermarket ... The time was so limited that I had to rush, and that made me sweat with anxiety.
Going to the supermarket used to be part of the rhythm of daily life – so mundane that it was taken for granted. But after weeks of lockdown in Shanghai, shopping in a store is a new-found luxury.
In some areas of the city where new cases of coronavirus are near or at zero, residents are being allowed out of their compounds on a limited basis to go to designated supermarkets and pharmacies.
To date, Putuo is the only downtown district that has “essentially achieved zero community transmission of COVID-19,” according to the government, and residents there are reaping the rewards of a health battle victory.
Chen Chonghou, who lives in the Zhenxinyuan neighborhood in Putuo’s Wanli Subdistrict, waited in line more than 30 minutes in front of a Carrefour store.
“It doesn’t matter if the line is long,” he said.
“It’s been far too able to go out and
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This caused difficulties for Li at the checkout. Her bill was approaching 300 yuan when her basket was still half full. After some hesitation, she forfeited beer, Coke and potato chips.
“I’ve wanted to buy these things for a long time,” she said. “They are usually hard to get in group buying. But after all, they are not necessities.”
A purchasing manager at the supermarket, who identified herself only by the surname Wang, told Shanghai Daily that the store is currently well-stocked and prices haven’t changed.
She said that Carrefour began planning for resumption of service in mid-April. After basic supplies were brought in, she ordered snacks for customers long deprived of their favorite comfort foods.
“Now we have ample stocks Lay’s, Oishi and Orion potato chips,” she said.
Not everyone has found the new shopping freedoms a blessing.
A 70-year-old man surnamed Xu sat on a bench at a bus stop on Xincun Road, with his empty shopping basket next to him. He wasn’t waiting for a bus. Most haven’t resumed full service yet. He was simply resting.
Xu hadn’t received a Carrefour invitation card that day, but he still made a shopping list and went out to see if any other stores might be open.
“There were few stores open, but I couldn’t walk far,” he said. “So I didn’t get anything.”
Xu lives with his wife and his 90-year-old mother. Due to the poor health of his wife and his
mother’s advanced age, he was responsible for the shopping.
During the lockdown, Xu learned how to engage in buying groups to ensure that his family had enough to eat. However, items such as yogurt, milk, coffee and beer haven’t been available for more than two weeks.
The medicine he wanted to buy also was not available.
Xu’s wife suffers from insomnia. Before the lockdown, he went to the Wanli branch of the Putuo District Traditional Chinese Hospital to get sleeping pills for her. They have now run out.
Sitting on his bench, he said: “It takes me half an hour to walk there. I’m tired, and I’ll rest here for a while before heading back.”
Some 1,193 of the 1,626 outlets of 12 major supermarket chains in the city had resumed operations as of last week, with 220 stores resuming offline operations, said Gu Jun, director of the city’s Commerce Commission.
In addition to supermarkets, convenience stores are also reopening. However, online takeout orders continue to be the main service mode.
On Xincun Road, a FamilyMart convenience store was lit up, but the door was open only wide enough to hand out plastic bags to deliverymen.
Store manager Zhuo Yi said that the store reopened on April 22 and she has been living in the store since then.
“The shop is always well-stocked every morning,” she said. “We begin accepting orders at 8am every day, and there are frequently dozens of orders at once.”
Zhuo formed a WeChat group with customers from the surrounding community. She notifies them of any new items in stock.
As of last week, Shanghai had about 700 FamilyMart convenience stores reopened, with most operating on the online delivery platform Ele.me.
However, restrictions continue. Customers can purchase only bento boxes, sandwiches, rice balls, fresh milk, bread, instant noodles and a few snacks. For takeout, the starting delivery fee is 50 yuan.
Deliveryman Jiang Cheng waited in front of the FamilyMart for three orders he had to take to residential compounds.
“This isn’t much,” he said. “I sometimes pick up more than 10 orders at a time.”
Jiang works for Ele.me. He said there are significantly more deliverymen on the road now that convenience stores and restaurant chains are resuming online orders.
“The fast food, bakery and fruit stores that have reopened are pretty busy,” he said.
In addition to Putuo District, citizens within the designated areas in Jiading, Fengxian, Jinshan, Chongming, Qingpu and Songjiang are also allowed to go to supermarkets, drugstores and hospitals in their districts. Private cars are allowed in limited areas, and public transport is being gradually restored.