Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, Kindred Market had experienced its busiest day during the holidays last year. The market broke its own record as crowds of shoppers bought out whole inventories of staple items.
After the rush, the market has experienced some of its slowest business days since first opening a year ago.
Many local grocery stores, like Kindred Market, 84 E. State St., experienced their largest crowds just before the state issued a mandatory shelter-in-place order. Staple items like milk and eggs flew off the shelf, but not because of panic buying, General Manager Riley Kinnard said. Customers were simply stocking up on what they might need.
“Our sales were just way more than what we're used to, and inventory was going out of stock, and we couldn't keep the shelves stocked,” Kinnard said. “The store kind of … was in total disarray because people were just buying.”
Much of the market’s inventory sold out, as it was not prepared for the large numbers of sales, Kinnard said. Other than milk and bread, Kinnard said she noticed people buying more flour and yeasts, as more people are baking, and more dried goods, like beans, rice and other dried goods that will last.
“People wanted to come and get all of the food that they would need for quarantining themselves for 14 days or a month,” Kinnard said.
After a few days, Kinnard said business had slowed and has decreased since.
“There is a noticeable lull in business,” Kinnard said, “It’s like the sales are below what they were … not a great amount, luckily.”
She said she noticed fear from both employees and customers, as many employees no longer wanted to work, and customers began to wear masks and gloves. The market increased its cleaning measures in turn.
“There's this rising tide of fear amongst customers, and you feel it. The staff feels it when they see anybody coming into the store wearing gloves, and then suddenly, we're all wearing gloves, and suddenly, most of us are wearing masks, and you have to keep an eye on every basket, every hand basket or every cart that leaves or come back and make sure it's been sanitized,” Kinnard said.
Some of the starkest changes she’s seen have been in the community, she said. Saturday is no longer the store’s busiest day because customers are off work all the time. There is also no longer an evening rush.
Another change is not only the absence of students, but the increased presence of student workers, Kinnard said.
“We have a couple of employees, too, whose schedules just opened wide,” Kinnard said, “They used to have that limited availability due to their class schedule, but when their classes all got canceled, they suddenly are available to work all the time, which was really worked out for us because ... several of our employees weren't available at all.”
Other businesses, like The Farmacy, 28 W. Stimson Ave., have experienced drastic changes as well.
“It's like getting used to looking at the world upside down: I mean on all levels, from all facets and angles,” Farmacy co-owner Kevin Tidd said. “My wholesalers and employees and everything is totally topsy-turvy.”
Tidd said everything had been normal until the shelter-in-place order was given. The store transitioned from allowing customers to walk in through the door with optional self-service areas to curbside and delivery-only options.
“It kind of reminds me almost of like July and August when (students) are all gone,” Tidd said.
By the end of August, Tidd feels as though businesses are begging students to return. Normally, Tidd said he has the busy spring season to save money in anticipation of the slower summer months. This spring, not so much.
For Tidd and his business, every day is different, and the future is uncertain.
“I feel like if you don't plan, you plan to fail, you know. I mean, it's an old saying, but it's so true,” Tidd said, “We immediately tried to get into that loop of funds that are available to help us get through this crisis. You know, six to eight weeks worth of operating expenses, but (with) people getting a paycheck … this may be done in six days.”
Both Kindred Market and The Farmacy have attracted other types of customers than their normal regulars during this time. Kinnard said she saw an increase in people she believed were trying to avoid the bigger box stores, and Tidd said he saw an increase in travelers.
“I had a lot of passers-through, you know, people that were traveling from one place to another place,” Tidd said. “They were stopping here because they didn't know if they'd be able to find that good natural food store in 100 miles.”
Other small businesses, like Busy Day Market, 30 W. Stimson Ave., saw a fluctuation in their number of customers as well.
“I think a lot of people were coming in to stock up because they're fearful that we would maybe close down, and we saw a large increase of like the first three days, and then as things started to close down, you know, the numbers started to dwindle and everything,” Cole Stephenson, a cashier, said. “But other than the past week, week-and-a-half (it) has been pretty quiet.”
For places like Kindred Market and many other small, local businesses, the times remain very uncertain.
“It's hard to know what the future holds,” Kinnard said.
