# Help me understand part-time groery store closures **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 21, 2020, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983 "2020-03-21T22:15:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Saturn\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Saturn\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saturn_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/21 "2020-03-22T01:26:27Z")
There is no “official” explanation on reduced store hours. Stores will open and close as they see fit. I can understand a 24-hour store drastically reducing hours to eight or 10 hours of operation. People shouldn’t be out and about so much which includes customers and workers. What I can’t understand is a store or shopping center reducing their open hours by just one or two hours. A place that was open from 10am to 10 pm now closes at 9pm. Another place that was open from 10am to 8pm is now operating from 11am to 7pm. I’m thinking to myself what good does that do? You’re not really helping much with reducing people traffic and just causing inconvenience for shoppers. Go big or go home. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/22 "2020-03-22T01:40:59Z")
> [@Saturn\_Dreams](#): > > What I can’t understand is a store or shopping center reducing their open hours by just one or two hours. It’s symbolic: we are changing in response to the times. It’s also convenient: labour costs and utilities are two biggies for industry, and I’m betting it saves money. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/23 "2020-03-22T01:42:43Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Another grocery store question: the store I usually go to has two entrances. One of them is now closed, forcing everyone to go in and out through a single set of doors. I’m not sure I understand how that’s supposed to help? > [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Yeah, I saw that in a store in Los Angeles last week. I don’t get it either. > [@PoppaSan](#): > > Increase security by monitoring one entrance? The local formerly 24 hour stores almost all closed one entrance during the overnight hours. The security monitor for one door is now able to keep the TP hoarders civil. I think security is the answer. There’s probably more stealing going on now, and with stuff in such demand, theft “hurts” more, because it pretty certain that someone else woud buy what you stole. You aren’t just stealing from the store, you are stealing from the guy parked next to you. I had a friend who worked security as a Walmart. She said most shop-lifting attempts occurred at night, which is why one entrance at night. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/24 "2020-03-22T01:53:11Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Another grocery store question: the store I usually go to has two entrances. One of them is now closed, forcing everyone to go in and out through a single set of doors. I’m not sure I understand how that’s supposed to help? > [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Yeah, I saw that in a store in Los Angeles last week. I don’t get it either. > [@PoppaSan](#): > > Increase security by monitoring one entrance? The local formerly 24 hour stores almost all closed one entrance during the overnight hours. The security monitor for one door is now able to keep the TP hoarders civil. I think security is the answer. There’s probably more stealing going on now, and with stuff in such demand, theft “hurts” more, because it pretty certain that someone else woud buy what you stole. You aren’t just stealing from the store, you are stealing from the guy parked next to you. I had a friend who worked security as a Walmart. She said most shop-lifting attempts occurred at night, which is why one entrance at night. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/25 "2020-03-22T02:10:55Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > It’s symbolic: we are changing in response to the times. > > It’s also convenient: labour costs and utilities are two biggies for industry, and I’m betting it saves money. As someone who has been working many hours of overtime the past few weeks at the grocery store, that extra hour closed is one more hour I can be at home and rest. We have employees out because they are sick, employees not working because of their concern about the virus, and employees missing time because of family issues associated with the whole crisis. Everyone is stressed, customers and staff alike. Stress does not always bring out the best in everyone. Meanwhile sales growth is huge. Out-of-stocks are the rule. Truck delivery schedules are fluid. Lines are long. Those of us working in the grocery store are more than aware of the risks we are taking and will have to continue to take so that you and others can buy food. A little more closed time is a bit more time for everyone to try and get a handle on this. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/26 "2020-03-22T02:22:26Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > As someone who has been working many hours of overtime the past few weeks at the grocery store, that extra hour closed is one more hour I can be at home and rest. We have employees out because they are sick, employees not working because of their concern about the virus, and employees missing time because of family issues associated with the whole crisis. Everyone is stressed, customers and staff alike. Stress does not always bring out the best in everyone. > > Meanwhile sales growth is huge. Out-of-stocks are the rule. Truck delivery schedules are fluid. Lines are long. > > Those of us working in the grocery store are more than aware of the risks we are taking and will have to continue to take so that you and others can buy food. A little more closed time is a bit more time for everyone to try and get a handle on this. It sounds like you took my post a bit personally, so I apologize. I did not mean any disrespect for the people who are working hard to keep the stores open and functioning: I’m really quite grateful for it. It’s just that every grocery store I have visited has been understaffed for years, at the expense of the workers on the floor, and you’ll pardon me if I’m a little suspicious of some of the decisions that get made. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/27 "2020-03-22T02:31:56Z")
Hy-Vee, a Midwestern grocery chain, is installing plastic guards between the cashiers and the customers, so they don’t breathe directly on each other. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/28 "2020-03-22T02:34:25Z")
Some stores are opening later to the general public and reserving the morning opening hours for senior citizens who are most venerable. This gives them the chance to shop after the store has been cleaned and before the rest of the public arrives. > **[Supermarkets Add 'Senior Hours' For Vulnerable Shoppers](https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/03/19/818488098/supermarkets-add-senior-hours-for-vulnerable-shoppers)** > > Target, Safeway and others are restricting their opening hours, limiting purchases per each shopper and setting off time for seniors and other high-risk individuals to shop. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/29 "2020-03-22T02:54:34Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > It sounds like you took my post a bit personally, so I apologize. I did not mean any disrespect for the people who are working hard to keep the stores open and functioning: I’m really quite grateful for it. It’s just that every grocery store I have visited has been understaffed for years, at the expense of the workers on the floor, and you’ll pardon me if I’m a little suspicious of some of the decisions that get made. No apology necessary. This is a trying time for everyone. One hopes that overall human well being is the main concern of most people in their daily lives. Sometimes it takes a crisis to get us to refocus on what truly matters. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/30 "2020-03-22T04:21:41Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Another grocery store question: the store I usually go to has two entrances. One of them is now closed, forcing everyone to go in and out through a single set of doors. I’m not sure I understand how that’s supposed to help? Crowd control. The store I work at is currently only letting 100 customers in at a time, and having one door shut off makes it easier for our security to monitor the line to get in. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/31 "2020-03-22T13:17:03Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I think security is the answer. There’s probably more stealing going on now, and with stuff in such demand, theft “hurts” more, because it pretty certain that someone else woud buy what you stole. You aren’t just stealing from the store, you are stealing from the guy parked next to you. > > I had a friend who worked security as a Walmart. She said most shop-lifting attempts occurred at night, which is why one entrance at night. This is likely the answer. They do normally keep one entrance closed after 9 or 10 pm anyway, so it’s probably just an extension of that. > [@Smapti](#): > > Crowd control. The store I working at is currently only letting 100 customers in at a time, and having one door shut off makes it easier for our security to monitor the line to get in. I didn’t see any store employees counting people coming in and out, and the store was just as crowded as any normal Saturday, so at least in my case I don’t think this was it. One thing I did notice was that they had a couple more registers open than they usually do, which I’m guessing is an effort to promote “social distancing” in the checkout lines. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/32 "2020-03-22T13:58:10Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Some stores are opening later to the general public and reserving the morning opening hours for senior citizens who are most venerable. This gives them the chance to shop after the store has been cleaned and before the rest of the public arrives. I wonder if Bede will show up to do his shopping. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/33 "2020-03-22T14:20:59Z")
I think the simplest explanation is that these are not ordinary times and there will be disruptions. The employees in grocery stores are affected just as much as everyone else. They have kids who aren’t at school. They may have spouses who have lost jobs, elderly parents who need help, like food and vital supplies brought to them rather than leaving home. On top of that, the supply system is disrupted. They have to learn and apply new cleaning and disinfecting techniques. There’s also the fatigue factor for those working under new and stressful conditions, where no matter how much social distancing is tried, they are dealing with large numbers of the public, more than most other people. Frankly, I’m amazed that such a vital essential service is still functioning. Shorter hours is a reasonable way to deal with a tired workforce. I’m very grateful to the food stores and all their employees for doing so well in a time of crisis. They are probably the single most essential service. You want panic and riots, just see what happens if it’s not just toilet paper that runs out, but food. A modern retail food store is the end point of an extremely complex and reliable supply chain. It is inevitable that there will be disruptions in their operations. Putting it down to “doing something just to look like they’re doing something” or “somehow it’s to grind the workers and make more money” seems unfair. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/34 "2020-03-22T15:12:03Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > … reserving the morning opening hours for senior citizens who are most venerable. We certainly are, and thank you for the compliment. Some of us are practically saints! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/35 "2020-03-22T15:41:19Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > We certainly are, and thank you for the compliment. Some of us are practically saints! 😉 Damn spell check! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/36 "2020-03-22T15:45:33Z")
“Venerable” can also be used as a synonym for “very old”. So even with the typo, it still works. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/37 "2020-03-22T18:08:40Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > We certainly are, and thank you for the compliment. Some of us are practically saints! 😉 You have to be “Blesssed” first! One must follow procedures, after all, lest the Devil’s Advocate come after you! ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/38 "2020-03-22T23:46:42Z")
Let me know when yall are serious. In my parts airliners, liquor stores, car dealerships (??) are still open. Doormen are considered essential?? ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/39 "2020-03-23T01:04:06Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Let me know when yall are serious. In my parts airliners, liquor stores, car dealerships (??) are still open. Doormen are considered essential?? No doorpeople in my rural county anyway but liquor sure is necessary; and behind those car dealerships are service facilities which ARE essential under most declarations. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983/40 "2020-03-23T04:12:50Z")
> [@ambushed](#): > > Not only that, but the 24-hour stores all around me that are now 8 hour operations or less have now thrown a huge proportion of their employees out of work unnecessarily, probably damaging them far more than the small chance of infection. I am not sure to what extent those grocery employees are losing jobs or hours. Also, there are shoppers like me (though I don’t want anyone to cry for me) who can only really shop at 24 hour places because we have night jobs that don’t shut down. In my area that meant Walmart and Meijer were the only options on most nights when I get off around 4-5am and must go to sleep soon in order to function for the next day. So, the other day I go to Walmart. Shoot, they now don’t open til 6. That’s OK, I heard Kroger is closing early now but they open at 6, too and they are on the other end of town so I won’t have to loiter for an hour. nope, 7. OK, Meijer is still 24/7. They don’t have much, but I can get a few things so I can eat for a couple days. Couple days later: Same thing, but now everything is open an hour later, except Meijer which had the most hours now has the least (opening at 8). So I need to figure out how to stay up a few hours longer. At least the McD’s drive through is open so I can get some coffee and hang out in parking lots until stores open. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-part-time-groery-store-closures/849983.md?page=3)