Neighborhood grocers stocking up on sugar, beans and sanitizer
Ryan Sprankle had to scramble like crazy when the coronavirus pandemic hit this spring.
Shoppers weren’t exactly running into each other as they scurried up and down the aisles at Sprankle’s Neighborhood Market in Kittanning, throwing anything and everything in their carts. Yet the retail frenzy of a Black Friday definitely permeated the air of the 10,000-square-foot grocery store he’d purchased from his parents just a few weeks prior.
With shoppers fearful of ensuing food shortages after Gov. Tom Wolf’s statewide shutdown of all “non-life-sustaining” businesses on March 19, it was controlled chaos.
Sugar, flour, beans, rice — anything you’d see on a Conestoga wagon — disappeared in an instant, said Mr. Sprankle, whose family has been in the grocery and meat business for more than 20 years. His father, Randy, owns a Sprankle’s market in Leechburg, Armstrong County, and his younger brother, Doug, just opened the chain’s third (and largest) location in Saxonburg on July 4.
Even on a good day, he said, running a retail business can feel like walking through a hurricane and hoping your house comes out OK. But this?
“For a couple of weeks, it looked like we were going out of business,” noted Mr. Sprankle, 39, with customers’ panic buying depleting shelves almost as fast they were filled.
Things have calmed down: Stressed supply chains have gotten back on track, and shoppers — making fewer but more efficient trips to stores — no longer feel the need to overfill their pantries with canned goods and freezers with meat and veggies. But it’s been an education, Mr. Sprankle said.
“It’s really hammered home the importance of customer service, and how important it is to anticipate and stay on top of things.”
From the get-go, Sprankle’s was super-vigilant about both customer and employee safety, he said. Store workers donned masks and gloves before those at the big chains; they also made sure customers had access to hand sanitizer. When that became hard to find, the brothers called a retail friend in Lancaster who was buddies with someone at Faber Distilling Co. in nearby Traumbauersville, which had shifted its operations to making hand sanitizer in spirits bottles. They bought a truckload.
The grocers also posted signs warning shoppers the store could be short on supplies and explaining the need for social distancing. Virtually no one complained, said Ryan Sprankle.
“They were very understanding of what was happening,” he said. “It was nice to see people showing humanity.”
Despite being “old school,” they also started offering delivery and curbside pickup. It’s not a moneymaker, but the family felt it important to support loyal customers who were afraid to shop during
COVID-19 or had health issues.
“You become grace under pressure, always thinking about the higher cause,” said Doug Sprankle. “You have a responsibility to the community.”
They continued buying ads so as to not add to other businesses woes, said Randy Sprankle, who started cutting meat when he was 16.
The family put just as much effort into scouring the landscape for the product Sprankle’s is known for but that was suddenly in short supply: meat. They became one of
Lawrenceville wholesale food supplier Restaurant Depot’s best customers.
Only rarely did they have to raise prices because of short supplies, such as when the price of beef skyrocketed 45% because of declining meat supply following the closures of some meatpacking plants.
The chain has always tried to engage and build its customer base by being relatable. Or as Ryan Sprankle put it, “We’re our own spokespeople,” always eager to say hi and support local causes. The coronavirus hasn’t changed that.
Rather than go into panic mode, they continue to post funny videos and positive ads on their Facebook page, projecting not just positivity but a sense of normalcy.
“Our customers are seeing enough negativity in the news and competitors’ ads,” he said.
That spirit is best reflected in the fact that Doug Sprankle decided not to delay the opening of the store in Saxonburg, for which plans started last fall, and to make the grand opening as grand as possible under the circumstances. Twice as large as the other two stores, it’s also the new flagship. Along with fresh sushi and baked goods from Mainstreet Bake Shop, it features a “steak vault” for a dry aged beef program and in August will boast a pub serving Conny Creek
Brewing products.
All three men live in the communities they serve and want to be good neighbors, said Doug Sprankle. “We’re Sprankle’s, but we’re also caretakers of the community, and we take it seriously.”
“Every time you give, it always comes back,” added Ryan Sprankle.