GREENVILLE — It is a matter of only taking what you need, shared Mark Davis, president and general manager of Eikenberry’s IGA on Wednesday as all area grocery stores have been dealing with the repercussions of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Whether it is empty shelves to limited shopping hours, the third-generation owned and operated grocery store on Sweitzer is tackling the issue one day at a time.
Davis took a moment out of what had to be another busy day to speak about the issue. However, a photo recently shared on Facebook may best showcase the Hometown Pride of the 90-year-old operation and just how hard their employees have been working. Individuals who had already worked that day proceeded to sacrifice an evening to help deep clean surfaces and restock shelves.
If the smiles in the photo are any indication, it was satisfying work with a reward of pizza for their efforts.
According to Davis, the pictured crew (minus a few shy individuals) worked diligently throughout the evening. While the store is continuing with regular business hours and cleaning all contact surfaces throughout the day, they are closing one hour early every evening to deep clean surfaces to combat COVID-19.
“Luckily, we are a small store,” said Davis, who explained some of the challenges surrounding delivery, too. One delivery due this week was late by an estimated 16 hours, another due this (Thursday) morning is pushed back to Friday and where once stores could share a delivery truck, they now each need their own.
“It is just hard; there are not enough people in the warehouses to pick the product either. It just all works backward,” explained Davis. “When we open the trailer door, we just cross our fingers as to what is on there.”
Currently, Eikenberry’s IGA is limiting the purchase of certain items such as eggs, milk, and paper products. Further, Davis is asking customers to only purchase what is necessary as opposed to months of product as while the distribution system has been hit hard, there is still plenty available and, “we are not going anywhere.”
Asked how Eikenberry’s IGA employees and customers are handling these unique circumstances, Davis stated some difficulty is expected but everyone is still smiling and that customers “have been good.”
“Everybody has been really nice and understanding,” continued Davis, who, rather than placing sale items on the store sign added this instead: Be patient, be kind, be well.
“They get that we are all in this together,” said Davis.
