click to enlarge - Sally Pollak
- The new Hannaford in South Burlington
The
Hannaford supermarket on Hannaford Drive in South Burlington that closes on Friday at 9 p.m. is separated by three tenths of a mile and countless rolls of toilet paper from the one that will open on Saturday morning at 935 Shelburne Road.
The new store’s opening celebration is canceled — no giveaways, no samples — to comply with public health guidelines for COVID-19. The fully stocked supermarket will open without fanfare on Saturday, March 21, at 7 a.m. No festivities, that is, unless shelves of Charmin, Scott and Quilted Northern Ultra Soft & Strong are cause for celebration. The toilet paper aisle and its competitor in the new world order of necessities — the cleaning supply section — are both fully stocked.
Still, Hannaford announced in a press release that it will place limits on the purchase of “certain products due to increased demand.” The standards are in place at all 17 supermarkets that Hannaford operates in Vermont.
The supermarket chain also said that, starting on Tuesday, March 24, it will offer early-morning shopping hours — 6 a.m. to 7 a.m., Tuesday through Thursday — for people age 60 and over and those with compromised immune systems.
click to enlarge - Sally Pollak
- Toilet paper aisle in the new Hannaford
The hours are intended to provide an environment in which fewer people will shop together, an effort by the store to encourage social distancing, the release said.
Late Friday morning at the new store in South Burlington, a cadre of people was making last-minute preparations: stocking shelves, sweeping the floor, installing a cash register and planting daffodils by the sign on Shelburne Road.
Anthony King, a carpenter who installed the roof, said people have been asking when the store will open. King, 42, lives in Lowell and drives an hour and 40 minutes each way to the job site in South Burlington.
The store in Lowell on Route 100 still has toilet paper and other supplies, King said. But in Newport, the bigger stores are running low of inventory, he added.
“It’s probably a big plus” that the new Hannaford is opening, King said. “We got a lot of people already stopping in — anticipating, not quite sure.”
click to enlarge - Sally Pollak
- Planting daffodils at the new Hannaford
The store at the site of the former KMart will be open to all shoppers daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., new company-wide hours that will go into effect on March 21. The reduced hours will provide additional time for cleaning and stocking the stores “and give associates more time to rest,” according to the company release. Hannaford also announced that it will donate $250,000 to local food banks.