Store Changes 04/14/2020

Columbus Mayor Robert Smith announced new safety measures for all Columbus food stores.

Developing story stinger yesterday, columbus mayor robert smith announced new safety measures for all columbus food stores.

The hand delivered letter highlighted seven guidelines to be carried out immediately.

Our cash matlock talks with area grocery store managers about how they're implementing the new orders.

He joins us live from the food giant parking lot in columbus..

Cash?

Joey, those guidelines you mentioned include things like requiring all employees to wear gloves and a mask, installing a face shield at the register, and maintaining a six- foot distance from all customers.

The managers i spoke with today say ... they were already following most of these rules.

Dan price is the store manager and food giant in columbus.

He says the past several weeks have been a challenge.

"we've struggled with our customers expectations.

Ours is to try and provide a safe environment for our customers and our associates as well."

In order to provide that safe environment, stores have to be stocked up on the proper personal protective equipment, or p-p-e.

"we provided the masks for our employees, the gloves for our employees... we try and instill the six foot rule with our customers and our associates."

"we are just constantly sanitizing, spraying our counters down, spraying our meat slicers down, keeping buckets of sanitizer, spray bottles of sanitation... we're just constantly, in between every customer, every time anyone has anything sliced, we go and we clean the meat slicer."

Lisa richardson is the deli supervisor at food giant.

She says her employees are already required to wear things like gloves and hair nets... but finding enough face masks to go around..

Hasn't been easy.

"we've had to reach out to outside vendors that we normally don't use, and you know, we're just doing all we can, and anything that they tell us would help them, we are trying to reach out and do for them."

Down the road at sunflower grocery store, they're taking a similar approach.

"extra precautions, you know, extra cleaning every hour, every thirty minutes or so."

Store manager kendrix morris says his store was also abiding by the mayor's guidelines before the letter was sent out.

He says it's all about providing a safe environment for employees... and shoppers.

"be safe.

Continue to slow the spread of the coronavirus, and make sure that we are taking the precautions that were put in demand, and hopefully everything will work out."

The mayor's office met with specific stores to go over the guidelines.

Mayor smith says any store caught violating these guidelines could face up to $1,000 in fines.

Reporting in columbus, cash matlock, wcbi news.