Taking stock during the PANDEMIC
Store exec on the front lines talks about the challenges facing a family-owned grocery store
Before the global coronavirus pandemic reached the Bay Area, most of us probably considered grocery shopping an obligatory chore of sorts. Yet in the last month or so, the idea of grocery shopping has been turned on its head. We’re now wearing masks as we walk in the store, announcements over a loudspeaker remind us to keep our distance, a plexiglass barrier separates us from the cashiers and markings on the ground tell us where to stand as we wait to check out.
For Khadija Zanotto, the last month has been a transition that she never could have expected and even she admits, she was not prepared for.
Zanotto is a 27-year-old vice president of the family-owned grocery store business Zanotto’s, which was founded more than four decades ago in San Jose. Like delivery people and bus drivers, grocery store employees such as Zanotto are on the front lines alongside health care professionals during the pandemic. For Zanotto, the past six to seven weeks have been spent trying to navigate these new, uncharted waters.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Q
What are the items that are most difficult to stock right now?
A
Toilet paper, paper towels, rubbing alcohol, Lysol, Lysol wipes, yeast, flour and sugar. I’d say those are definitely all in the top 10.
We were limiting almost from the beginning on things like toilet paper and paper towels. It’s not that our customers are hoarding, it’s just that our supply chain isn’t providing enough for us.
Q
Why is it so difficult for grocers like you to acquire a large stock of those things?
A
I don’t think our big toilet paper producers or our big grocery store wholesalers were prepared for this. And with the additional amount of groceries people are buying, there’s just a big stress on the supply chain and warehouses. Everything is getting just delayed by days and they’re sharing their supply of products with multiple stores in a certain area.
Q
Have you noticed any changes in your customer base since the pandemic began?
A
We’re normally a daily shop for people. We’re their pantry, we’re their fridge. Our neighbors come in here daily because we’re such a neighborhood store, so we’ve definitely seen a decrease in our daily customers that are always in here. They’re coming in here less frequently but getting bigger baskets. Instead of daily, small purchases for their meals, now it’s big baskets weekly. Q Grocery store employees are on the front lines during this outbreak, risking exposure every day from customers. What are you doing to protect your employees?
A
That’s our number one priority. And the close second to that is making sure our customers are safe. But if we take care of our employees, then we know our customers are in a better place to shop.
One of our owners, along with volunteers, has created masks for every one of our employees. Many of our full-time employees have two. We’ve ordered plastic shield guards for our faces, as well as at our checkout stations, we have those plexiglass screens. All of our stations, keypads and door handles are all being wiped down every 30 minutes. We have hand sanitizer and cart wipes available upon entrance, and we’re wearing gloves as a protection for ourselves. We’re also asking that people use debit and credit so that there is less cash handling.
Q
Are you nervous to go to work at a grocery store during this time?
A
I have less concerns for myself and more for the people around me. I’m healthy, young and 20-something. I know COVID affects everybody, but my population percentage is less likely to be affected.
I worry about my parents, who my husband and I live with, and I’m worried about my staff daily. I’m thankful for everything that they’re sacrificing because they’re really the ones that are supporting the community right now. I have a family business to represent and they don’t have to. For me, this is blood, but for them it’s different and I’m so grateful for them.
Q
What are you doing to specifically protect yourself and your family during this time? A
Right when I get home, I shower, change my clothes and everything goes into the laundry. I’m very aware of that. My parents love having a family dinner, but we sit at a 12-foot table — they sit on one end and I sit on the other. We’re practicing a lot of social distancing in our own home.
My brother is actually an internal medicine and critical care doctor in Minnesota, so we’re very aware of the risks we all are exposed to and we’re trying our best and taking guidance from him on things we can do to make sure it doesn’t come home with us. I don’t want to say its entirely inevitable, but we’re conscious that there’s a very high percentage that it’s going to affect us anyway.
Q
If you could advise people of anything right now, what would it be?
A
I want people to shop for a week, but I don’t want people to hoard. It’s hard to ask customers to shop for a week, but say “Don’t take what you don’t need.” But it is in the best interest of all of us.
Go out as little as possible, help people who need to be helped, be patient with everyone on the front line and we will get through this. We’re all tired and we’re all trying our best and we can’t help it if something is not available. I’ve had a few people get really heated about it with us, but that is not something we can control. It’s not that our orderer is not ordering, it’s just that some things are not showing up.
Everyone is emotionally a little bit fragile right now and we should all remember that.