Rachel Shemirani, senior vice president of Barons Market, a Southern California family-run company with nine specialty food stores, spoke to Specialty Food News about navigating the current business environment amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Has anything unexpected happened during this pandemic?
We were in the midst of opening our 9th store in Otay Ranch and the COVID-19 pandemic put a little wrench in those plans. There will be no soft opening or big grand opening but we are going to make it work; hopefully opening in a week or two with strict social distancing in place.
Are people buying differently? How have shopping habits changed?
Normally, our stores are set up for a 10-minute shopping experience where the customer comes in and out focusing on getting hot entrees for that evening or a salad from our salad bar for their lunch the next day. Shopping is 3 to 5 times a week. Now, there is an obvious shift in frequency and buying patterns. Customers are buying more during a single shopping trip and they are coming in once a week or every other week loading up as much as they can so they don’t have to come back right away.
While there is a big push to support the local restaurant industry, customers are definitely eating out less and cooking at home more. And we see that in the types of things they are buying—pasta, beans, rice, produce, and meat.
Did you experience supply chain issues?
While we had no issues with produce or meat, in the beginning we did have a couple of issues with staple items like pasta and beans but we moved through that shortage quickly and were able to find different sources for those items and restock our shelves in about 7 days.
How are you protecting both your employees and customers that come into the store to shop? What kind of social distancing are you implementing?
First we shortened our store hours to allow for more sanitizing and deep cleaning. We were one of the first stores to dedicate shopping hours to the 65 and older crowd and those with underlying health issues as well as pregnant women. Only 30 people at a time are allowed in the store and we have markers to indicate standing 6-feet apart while on line. A dedicated employee hands out gloves and sanitizer for customers and also sanitizes the carts and hand baskets after each use. We also put up plastic barriers at each register as well as social distancing signs throughout the store. Our employees wear face masks and rotate off the registers every hour to hour and a half for minimal interaction with customers. At the end of the day it is about what we can do to make the customer and our employees feel safe.
Did you merchandise your store in a new way to accommodate this new shopping pattern? Or come up with any creative solutions for essentials for your customers?
The first thing we did those first two weeks when customers were really stocking up was make sure our shelves were full. Even if we were out of a product we spread things out. Subconsciously, that gives customers a sense of peace and confidence. We went to restaurant distributors to buy pasta and beans and rice in bulk and were able to set up big inviting displays.
One of the biggest accommodations we did was instead of closing down our popular olive and salad bars, we pre-packaged everything in the bars and made beautiful displays so people could get grab-and-go meals. This way when the customer comes in instead of seeing a shut down bar, they are seeing all these really cool different kinds of salads they can easily grab. We did the same with our hot bar and created a menu of prepackaged entrees. It’s getting to the point where customers are getting tired of cooking so much that they really appreciate the meal solutions we are providing.
Did anything surprising happen from this?
While it feels very odd for us, not having the self-serve and the experience it brings, it translated very well for our customers during this time. Little things like prepackaging items goes a long way—it gives customers a feeling of safety and comfort.
While us and many other specialty food independents really focus on creating that exciting customer experience that is engaging and taste bud tempting where the customer wants to be in the store, now more than ever, this experience has to include safety—safety is becoming the star of the show. While packaged salads might not be that exciting—customers are thanking us for doing it.
Did you have to layoff any employees?
No, thankfully it was the opposite. When the first big wave of this tsunami hit we got our cousins, my mom, and lots of family members to come and stock the shelves and pitch in and help when needed. We were also in the middle of having a job fair for our new store when this all started. So those new hires basically got a crash course in how to work in the store. We also hired a lot of temporary workers.
Are you giving back to your community in any way—paying it forward?
We made a lot of monetary donations to Feeding America, Feeding San Diego, the San Diego Food Bank and Helen Woodward Animal Center, a local animal rescue that delivers pet food to seniors who cannot leave the house.
What do you predict the future of shopping will be at your store? What procedures may remain in place?
It is definitely going to include a continued focus on safety and we are going to be hyper aware of that even when they ease the restrictions, making sure we keep social distancing in place. The shopping experience will also change. Customers do not want to linger in the store or chit chat. You also can’t see much of their faces when they are covered with a mask. We are going to have to change our approach from a customer service standpoint to make customers feel welcome. I also predict that the supply chain will have less variety; as we are noticing that many manufacturers are making less products and cutting down on the variety of products they make. It will be interesting times, for sure.
Related: The Impact of COVID-19: Q&A with Woodstock Farmers’ Market’s Grocery Leader; The Impact of COVID-19: Q&A with Milo’s Whole World Founder.
Photo: Barons Market
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