AKRON, Ohio — Your next trip to the grocery store may look a little different as more efforts are made to help battle the spread of coronavirus.
Acme Fresh Market stores across Northeast Ohio have installed plastic shields at registers as a physical barrier to protect cashiers and customers through social distancing.
Taped lines have also been added to the floor to show distances of six feet at key locations like customer service, pharmacy counters and checkout lanes.
Acme officials are also asking all customers to allow the 7-8 a.m. hour for shoppers who are considered more vulnerable and high-risk.
Meanwhile, a “Night and Day” scheduling strategy has been put into effect at Acme stores “to reduce the number of associates in the store at any time,” the company said in a press release. “In addition to social distancing, Acme also continues to increase its cleaning of hard surfaces. Stores are cleaned and sanitized with hospital-grade disinfectants each evening. Additionally, carts and hand baskets are cleaned and sanitized overnight.”
Acme has one other request for its customers: Please don’t bring reusable or cloth bags to the stores until further notice as this will help minimize handling exposures to associates.
The chain operates 16 locations throughout Summit, Stark, Portage and Cuyahoga counties.