Special to the Opelika Observer
Last Friday, Kroger’s Atlanta Division, which includes Georgia, east Alabama and South Carolina, announced it has established new senior and at-risk shopping hours. Beginning May 27, Kroger’s Atlanta Division stores will block off 6 to 8 a.m. on Wednesdays as designated shopping hours for seniors 60 and older as well as high-risk individuals as defined by the CDC.
Kroger associates will be happy to assist anyone who needs additional help while shopping.
Kroger also announced this week that it is expanding store hours in the Atlanta Division. The store hours will vary, with most opening at 6 a.m. and closing at 11 p.m. or midnight. Some fuel centers and stores with fuel centers will open at 5 a.m. Select stores will open for 24-hour shopping. For exact store hours, visit Kroger’s store locator at Kroger.com. Hours of operation for Kroger’s pharmacies will not change.
“The expanded hours will help maintain social distancing requirements during busy summer months,” said Felix Turner, manager of corporate affairs for Kroger’s Atlanta Division. “The safety of our customers and associates remains our top priority. Kroger will continue to maintain protective measures established in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
These protective measures include:
– Limiting store capacity to 50% of the calculated capacity to help enforce social distancing requirements.
– Maintaining floor decals to promote physical distancing at check lanes and service counters.
– Placing signs in the stores promoting social distancing and airing in-store PA announcements throughout the day regarding safety measures.
-Requiring associates to wear protective masks while on duty. Kroger has distributed protective masks and gloves for all Atlanta Division store locations.
– Maintaining plexiglass partitions at check lanes, pharmacy and Starbucks registers across the division.
– Continuing enhanced daily sanitation practices at all stores, including cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting commonly used areas more often like cashier stations, self-checkouts, credit card terminals, food service counters and shelves.
– Utilizing additional hours for enhanced cart sanitization. Each evening when the store closes, the carts will be cleaned and sanitized to be ready for business the next morning. This includes securing all shopping carts that are in cart corrals before the store closes.
– Requiring temperature checks for associates before they start their shift in much of the division with a goal of all stores performing these checks as thermometers become available.
– Continuing to expand curbside pickup and delivery services, as well as contactless payment solutions like Kroger Pay. Kroger is also waiving delivery fees at this time.
Because of the expanded hours, Kroger’s Atlanta Division will no longer have a dedicated shopping hour for seniors and at-risk customers – but encourages these shoppers to continue to visit stores early in the morning.
About Kroger:
At The Kroger Co., they are Fresh for Everyone and dedicated to a common purpose: to feed the human spirit. They have 28,000 associates who serve customers daily by delivering a seamless shopping experience throughout Kroger’s Atlanta Division, which includes Georgia, eastern Alabama and South Carolina. They are committed to creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025.