April 10, 2020 Update

Supermarket, Grocery & C-Store

• C&S Wholesale Grocers announced a partnership with Sysco in which C&S Wholesale Grocers will provide temporary employment to certain Sysco warehouse and delivery associates to help supply food to grocery retailers in New York.

• Casey’s General Stores Inc. is building on an existing collaboration with DoorDash to provide delivery from its stores. The new service will immediately offer delivery for Casey’s pizza, select appetizers, and 20-ounce sodas. By the end of April, dozens of grocery and household items will be added. The company has opened six new Truck Care and Speedco locations, which are open 24/7, offer tire, lube and mechanical services for professional drivers and fleets.

• Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc. is looking to hire more than 2,000 employees for its travel stops, convenience stores, truck care centers and its headquarters.

• Meijer Inc. has begun to limit the number of shoppers who enter its doors during each trip. In addition, Meijer also is conducting daily health screenings and temperature checks of team members and installing protective plexiglass shields at all check lanes and pharmacies.

• Publix Super Markets Inc. is offering a contactless payment method at all of its stores with Apple Pay and Google Pay. Publix has started installing plexiglass shields at all cash registers, pharmacies and customer service counters.

• Sheetz Inc. is launching a new payment option, SHcan & Go!, that allows customers to scan and pay for convenience store items through the Sheetz app, during the checkout process.

• US Foods Inc. has formed about 20 retail distribution partnerships with national grocery store chains, wholesale grocers and consumer packaged goods brands, temporarily reassigning more than 700 US Foods distribution associates to warehouse roles.

• Walmart Stores Inc., The Kroger Co., Hy-Vee and Giant Food, among other leading grocery retailers, are instituting one-way aisles and limits on customer count in stores.

Retail

• Ace Hardware Corp. announced that it plans on hiring more than 30,000 people across the United States.

• Amazon.com Inc. will reportedly delay its annual Prime Day due to concerns over COVID-19.

• BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. will limit the number of members allowed inside its clubs at any one based on the square footage of each club. No more than 20% of a store’s total capacity will be allowed in the building at any given time. BJ’s will begin to check the temperatures of employees as they report to work.

• CVS Health is opening new drive-thru testing sites for the Coronavirus strain COVID-19 in parking lots in Georgia and Rhode Island.

• Lowe’s Companies Inc. has developed an app, available on employees’ handheld devices, to implement a new customer limit protocol. Each store manager can now monitor foot traffic and limit entrance based on CDC and local guidelines. In addition, the retailer is adding dedicated employees as “social distancing ambassadors”.

• Target Corporation plans to limit customer traffic in all of its stores to promote social distancing. A Target associate will set up a designated waiting area outside with physical distancing markers, while another associate will guide shoppers inside the store and keep checkout moving quickly.

• Tractor Supply Company announced that it will hire an additional 5,000 full-time and part-time associates.

• Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. announced plans to open 15 drive-thru testing sites for the virus across Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas, starting later this week.

Restaurant

• Barberitos Inc. is offering free delivery through its partnership with DoorDash through April, 30^th.

• BJ’s Restaurants Inc. is currently keeping all restaurants open, but has laid off 16,000 employees.

• Darden Restaurants Inc. has furloughed 150,000 employees, 20% of corporate staff, and reduced salaries for top executives by 50%.

• Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants Inc. has donated 100,000 sandwiches to help feed first responders.

• Doctor’s Associates Inc. is temporarily turning 100 Subway locations in California into temporary grocery stores. The stores are being named Subway Grocery and will feature deli meats and breads for customers to buy.

• Domino’s Pizza Inc has started a joint program with its franchisees to donate 12 million slices of pizza to those in need in local communities.

• El Pollo Loco Inc. has announced that its free delivery partnership with Postmates will continue for as long as necessary.

• Fat Brands, Inc will be using its Los Angeles based food truck to provide over 10,000 meals to hospital workers.

• FOCUS Brands Inc. has laid off 136 corporate employees as they downsize their operations amid store closures reduced sales.

• Ledo Pizza System Inc. has launched a Pizzas for the Frontline initiative which will take donations to provide first responders and healthcare workers with meals.

• Logan’s Roadhouse Inc. has temporarily closed all of its restaurants and fired all of its furloughed employees.

• McDonald’s Corporation has announced that they will be reducing the number of store remodeling’s and will not be opening new units during the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, the CEO has announced he will take a 50% salary cut through September.

• Panera Bread Company has launched Panera Grocery and will be offering a wide variety of grocery offerings at all of their restaurants.

• Restaurants chains debuting family meal bundles to better serve communities. These restaurants include: MOOYAH Franchise LLC, E & G Franchise Systems Inc., Denny’s Corporation, Zaxby’s Franchising Inc., Pizza Hut, California Pizza Kitchen Inc., Carl’s Jr., Einstein Bros. Bagels, Red Lobster, and Panda Express.

• Starbucks Corporation has donated $10 million to a grant program to help its employees in company owned and franchised stores who are in areas considered disaster zones.

• T.G.I. Friday’s Inc. has indefinitely suspended its plans to go public.