Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories

Tops updates limited-item list; to provide American-made cloth masks as additional safety measure to store associates

Submitted

Tue, Apr 14th 2020 12:10 pm

From Tops corporate:

The health and well-being of our customers and associates is our first priority. In January, our internal “Tops crisis management team” started the process of preparing for the COVID-19 event that had just started. Since then, the team has taken daily action to ensure increased supply of products coming into our warehouses and stores for our customers to purchase. Additionally, they have increased the availability of disinfectants, sanitizers and cleaning supplies for all our associates to use in their work environment to help combat the spread of germs. Store cleaning protocols were adjusted, proper sanitation procedures were reiterated and cleaning cycles were also increased.

The Tops crisis management team and executive management have been monitoring and meeting daily and have been responding accordingly to ensure business continuity and to limit disruption to our customers.

What are we limiting:

At this time, Tops is limiting the following items to two per customer (unless otherwise indicated) to allow as much available inventory to assist as many of our customers as possible:

•Adult care

•Baby formula

•Baby wipes

•Bath tissue, 18 roll pack or larger

•Big pack chicken

•Bleach – one container

•Cereal – four boxes

•Cleansing flushable wipes

•Commercial breads and rolls

•Cough and cold

•Diapers

•Disinfectant sprays

•Disinfectant wipes

•Eggs – one carton (no limitations on Tops medium eggs)

•Facial tissue

•Flour – one package per customer; all brands, all sizes.

•Four total gallons of water per customer – this includes spring, distilled, purified or three-pack gallon water

•Fresh ground beef, pork, chicken and sausage

•Frozen vegetables – four bags

•Hand sanitizer

•Laundry detergent

•Liquid dish detergent

•Multipack water; this includes all brands of water

•Oatmeal

•Pain remedies

•Pasta sauce – four jars

•Peanut butter

•Rubbing alcohol

•Sanitary protection

•Sugar – one package per customer; all brands, all sizes

Additionally, our bulk bin section will be closed temporarily. Many of these products are available in prepackaged form.

We appreciate your patience as our supply chain and distribution teams have also been working around the clock to ensure that the food, cleaning supplies, household essentials and pharmaceuticals that you need are reaching our stores as quickly as possible and are available to purchase in-store, with grocery pick-up, or by delivery.

Since this is an ever-changing situation, we will continue to monitor it closely and will make adjustments accordingly.

•Beginning this week, Tops will be rolling out additional safety measures at all of its 162 stores in New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont. Those safety measures include providing all of its associates with American-made cloth face masks to ensure their associates health and well-being while serving the community as essential workers. This safety measure is in addition to the 5,000 face shields already distributed to its workforce.

These masks have been ordered from multiple providers in order to ensure that the quantities needed are available.

The masks that Tops is providing to its associates are American made, which was important to Tops as a company. An added bonus was that some masks were even made locally in Buffalo, where Tops is headquartered. Tops is confident that the masks will be distributed to all associates by the end of this week. In the meantime, disposable masks will be available.

“There is nothing more important to Tops than the health and safety of our associates, customers, vendors, and their respective families,” said chairman and CEO for Tops Friendly Markets, Frank Curci. “We have been laser-focused on COVID-19 since it became clear that the United States was going to be greatly impacted by this pandemic, and can assure the public that we are implementing the safety and sanitation protocols that are being recommended by the experts available to us. As this crisis has unfolded, I know that our protocols have evolved to stay abreast of the latest medical and scientific advice coming from these health experts, and Tops can pledge to you that we are fully engaged on this task for the sake of all involved.”

Tops is also 90% complete with the installation of Plexiglas on both sides of its registers as of Monday, and is complete with the installation of Plexiglas at all of its customer service desks, pharmacy, and fuel stations. In total, the company will have installed nearly 1,000 Plexiglas safety shields by close of business on Wednesday, April 15.

Additional safety measures rolled out at all stores include providing gloves for the associates, hand sanitizer and wipes for the associates and customers respectively, and the newly instituted comfort zone areas at the registers, pharmacy and deli areas, which provides more social distancing between customers as well as the customer and Tops associate.

Further, an associate is assigned at each store specifically in charge of sanitization of the front end registers, check stands, conveyor belts, customer service desks, point of sale devices, restrooms, and other frequently touched surfaces most accessed by customers on a continual basis during operating hours.

Hometown News

View All News