Name: Rebuilding America: North Jersey supermarkets may see permanent changes due to coronavirus
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Rebuilding America: North Jersey supermarkets may see permanent changes due to coronavirus

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NorthJersey.comView CommentsNew Jersey's supermarkets became ground zero in March as a sign of how life changed because of the coronavirus. As&nbsp;one of the few kinds of businesses still open, there have been&nbsp;chaotic crowds, empty shelves and social distancing measures.&nbsp;Some of those changes may not be going away soon, if at all.Chain supermarkets and mom-and-pop shops are facing similar problems in the wake of the pandemic, but smaller stores are dealing with slim profit margins.Story continues below the gallery.&nbsp;Social distancing, plexiglass barriers at checkouts and increased sanitation will most likely last a long time, said Doug Baker, vice president of&nbsp;industry relations&nbsp;for the Food Industry Association. The plexiglass barriers could be in place for up to two years."It's all about making sure that the public and associates feel comfortable," Baker said.But it is&nbsp;not just the&nbsp;changes to sanitation processes and the grocery stores that could remain. Stew Leonard Jr., president and CEO of Stew Leonard's, said he believes his stores will see an increase in demand for&nbsp;products like citrus, turmeric and ginger, which are commonly believed to boost immune systems.&nbsp;"I think those are food items that will change the landscape a little bit," Leonard said. "Our citrus business has tripled."While hand sanitizer has always been a popular product, Leonard said it is consistently wiped out from shelves along with masks and gloves as more and more people take precautions. What used to be self-serve stations will most likely continue to be serviced by an employee so only one person has touched everything, Baker said.Baker said supply chains have been strained, with coronavirus causing limited shortages, but nothing critical. He said as things slowly open, the pressure on the supply chains will decrease as shoppers get products from other places such as farmers&nbsp;markets.Jessica Colbert, vice president of Adam's Food Market in Wallington, said they are doing what they can to keep shelves stocked but are facing a shortage of some goods, including paper products and dry goods.She said they haven't been able to get a major delivery of dry and paper goods within the past eight weeks and bigger stores have been grabbing the supply before they can.Stefanie Shuman, a spokeswoman for Stop &amp;&nbsp;Shop, said they are seeing some cases of customer demand outpacing manufacture supplies, and it does take time to restock products, but Stop &amp;&nbsp;Shop&nbsp;stores in North Jersey continue to receive shipments multiple times a day.Customers should still expect stores to place limits on certain products, but as manufacturers continue to build supply, items that have been in high demand will start showing up on shelves.There has been a heavy increase in online ordering and home deliveries."The jump in online grocery sales was immediate and dramatic as customers demanded a contactless experience," said Linda Doherty, president of the New Jersey Food Council.&nbsp;"In five weeks, grocers experienced the explosion in growth of online sales that wasn’t projected for another five&nbsp;years."Leonard said online and delivery orders typically accounted for 5% of their business, but it has skyrocketed to 15% to 25%.Colbert said they hope to add online ordering to their website within the next several months.&nbsp;"We kind of feel like, right now, the future is going to be placing an order online and then having them pick it up," Colbert said. "That way there is a limited amount of contact. You're not in the store for as long and it makes things easier for the customer."Grocery stores:Food:Contactless checkout could continue to grow as more stores deploy self-checkout, checkouts through QR codes or more technologically advanced options similar to Amazon Go stores,&nbsp;Baker said."We also will see a demand for new job opportunities to handle online shopping programs, so the industry is aggressively hiring," Doherty said.Colbert said prices for certain products continue to increase from distributors, making it difficult for smaller stores, which&nbsp;have much smaller profit margins than larger or franchised businesses. In the last month, she has seen the prices for&nbsp;ground beef double."We definitely notice prices going up and have felt some resentment from the community," Colbert said. "We're not making dollars and dollars off of 1&nbsp;pound. We're trying to keep the profit margin as small as possible."Shoppers at Adam's Food Market haven't been limited in the number of certain products they can buy like larger stores but Colbert said they need to brace themselves for price increases."Things are going to be expensive,&nbsp;so do your best to budget," Colbert said. "We tell people if they are able to and have space, they may want to think about stocking up now. Not to panic buy, but if they can grab an extra pack of meat, they should."Baker said retailers are having discussions on whether certain items should be placed back on the shelves in order to make room for more core items. Favorite flavors or scents of certain products could disappear over time and not reemerge as more needed and popular items are restocked, he said."Plan on some things not coming back."Kaitlyn Kanzler covers Essex County for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community,&nbsp;.Email:&nbsp; Twitter:&nbsp;View Comments

NorthJersey.comView CommentsNew Jersey's supermarkets became ground zero in March as a sign of how life changed because of the coronavirus. As&nbsp;one of the few kinds of businesses still open, there have been&nbsp;chaotic crowds, empty shelves and social distancing measures.&nbsp;Some of those changes may not be going away soon, if at all.Chain supermarkets and mom-and-pop shops are facing similar problems in the wake of the pandemic, but smaller stores are dealing with slim profit margins.Story continues below the gallery.&nbsp;Social distancing, plexiglass barriers at checkouts and...

Rebuilding America: North Jersey supermarkets may see permanent changes due to coronavirus

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