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A plastic screen separates a customer from an employee at the Walmart Supercenter at Trinity Parkway in Stockton on. April 26. The screens are intended to ensure safety of all frontline essential workers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Robyn Jones.
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Shelves are emptied of home necessities, from bath tissues and paper towels to cleaning supplies, in the Walmart Supercenter at Trinity Parkway in Stockton on April 26. Photo by Robyn Jones.
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Signs are posted to keep customers 6 feet apart at the Walmart Supercenter at Trinity Parkway in Stockton on April 26. The small aisles sometimes make it a difficult order to follow. Photo by Robyn Jones. April 26.
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A couple is seen with an empty basket looking at the Walmart Supercenter in Stockton on April 26. Photo by Robyn Jones
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The Walmart Supercenter at Trinity Parkway in Stockton has reopened their etrance located on the left side of the buildiing May 6. Photo by Robyn Jones.From plastic barriers to maximum headcounts, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way the country is approaching the act of shopping.
At the beginning of the pandemic, many restaurants and local grocery stores have been monitoring how many customers are allowed in the store at a time. Walmart Supercenter in Trinity Parkway has had one entrance open allowing customers to walk in and out in the early morning.
Towards the afternoon as everything begins to get, busier employees begin to stop people at the door, letting one person in for every one person that exits.
Inside of the, store many cash registers have been replaced with self-check out machines.
“The self- checkout is a part of the remodeling we’re getting. I don’t really believe it has much to do the virus like how many customers believe,” said Walmart associate on condition of anonymity.
All person-operated cash registers have been modified to fit the six feet social distancing requirements. Plastic barriers have also been put up to divide the cashier and the customer for safety precautions.
“It kind of makes me feel like I am in a bubble, some people think it may be ridiculous but it’s keeping us frontline workers safe especially from people who don’t wear masks,” said a Walmart cashier on condition of anonymity.
“We have to sanitize and wash carts everyday, and it is required for workers to wear masks while we work so we don’t catch anything and pass it on,” the cashier said.
Walking down the aisles many household items such as tissues, toilet paper, paper towels and cleaning supplies are emptied out of the shelves. Many arts and crafts activities such as sewing supplies are also being cleared out due to an increase in many people sewing and selling masks on social media.
Beverly Bravo, a Walmart shopper was looking up and down the fabric aisle looking for materials she needed, but was not satisfied with her findings,
“I love crafting, I am a crafter. I was coming to find materials to make an outfit but all the good fabric and plain fabrics are gone, because people want to make quick money,” she said.
