Johnson’s Grocery Store is closed to the public but open for business. Customers of all three grocery stores will now have to call or email their orders to the stores which will be filled and then either picked up or delivered, depending on the options available. Staff photo/Brian Larsen
If you’ve been to a grocery store in the last week, from the Twin Cities metropolis to small town Grand Marais, you’ve felt the frantic energy and high levels of stress as a shopper. But for the folks running cash registers or restocking shelves well after midnight, the job of going to work every day has changed dramatically. Absorbing communal anxiety, enforcing group-size, or discouraging hoarding was not a part of their job description. With difficult days forecasted ahead, now is the time to craft small town solutions, find ways to support our community in critically stressed areas, and embrace empathy and patience for frontline workers in Grand Marais.
Part of the problem is it’s all new. It’s new to send only one shopper into the grocery store per family. It’s new to leave the kids at home. It’s new to buy one item instead of two. It’s new to stay six feet apart. But for employees and managers at Gene’s, Johnson’s, and the Whole Foods Co-Op, these are not normal times. They feel strained, exposed, and vulnerable.
On the frontlines of COVID-19, increasing hours, a stressful atmosphere, and endless sanitization are now the new norm for local grocery store employees like Caleb Johnson. Finding creative outlets and positive ways to support emergency employees, like those working long hours at grocery stores, is a great challenge for innovative Cook County. Photo courtesy of John Stember
Recently, Cook County grocery store workers were designated emergency-essential employees, which according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, means “they must report for and remain at work during emergency situations and dismissal or closures do not apply to them unless they are instructed otherwise.”
One IGA employee was too busy to talk, politely saying, “We’re just trying to keep our heads above water.” Another employee at Johnson’s felt disposable, reminding folks they don’t receive protection like health care workers yet deal with people every day. Another employee at the Whole Foods Co-op replied, “We are trying our damnedest to stay open and serve our community,”
Here are the current recommendations to help support our local grocery workers. Please respect these rules and suggestions and politely remind others in order to protect these critical people serving the Grand Marais community. Let’s not make their job harder than it is.
One person per household can shop in grocery store at a time.
Instead of buying large amounts of the same item, please limit purchases to one or two.
To limit exposure and practice social distancing, consider shopping weekly instead of daily.
Provide everyone six feet of space.
Please try to avoid picking up items and then putting them back.
Consider putting together a list, calling into the store, and then picking up your groceries.
Consider volunteering to help deliver groceries for those in need.
These are rapidly changing times so please remain flexible, patient, and compassionate.
To find out more information about supporting people that make up this wonderful place and brainstorming positive solutions, please check out and contribute to the local Facebook group, “Cook County MN COVID-19 Volunteers.” One the most wonderful things about living in a tight-knit town, known for eclectic artists and resourceful foresters, is coming together when things get difficult and thinking outside of the box, or inside of the grocery store.
Leave a Reply