Harris Teeter, Publix, Lowes Foods, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Lidl, Aldi, Fresh Market and Wegmans grocery store chains, in addition to Walmart and Target retail stores, are shrinking hours as the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to spread.
Here's what we know as of March 19 about new hours at the local chains. We will update this story as information becomes available.
_ An online notice posted by the Matthews-based Harris Teeter on March 18, notes that the new store hours will be 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. effective immediately and until further notice.
_ Publix started closing its stores early at 8 p.m. on March 14, until further notice.
_ All Wegmans stores across the country are now open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Employees will use the extra time to clean stores and restock products.
_ Walmart announced that as of March 18, that all stores will open 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Stores that open later than 7 a.m. will continue their regular starting hours. (Starting March 24 through April 28, Walmart will have a one-hour senior shopping event each Tuesday for customers aged 60 and older. This will start one hour before the store opens, with pharmacies and Vision Centers also open during that time.)
_ Trader Joe's has also reduced hours to 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. "to support our Crew Members in taking care of one another and our customers."
_ Lowe's Foods announced it would reduce store hours as well, keeping stores open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. until further notice.
_ Germany-based Lidl announced that store hours would reduce to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to give workers more time to clean and restock.
_ Target, the Minneapolis-based retail chain, said that all of their stores will close at 9 p.m. effective March 18, to allow workers more time to clean and restock. The store will also devote the first shopping hour of each Wednesday to vulnerable guests, which Target defines as "elderly and those with underlying health concerns."
_ Whole Foods says its stores will "close up to two hours early to give our Team Members more time to restock shelves, sanitize our stores and rest in preparation for the next day." Store hours vary location to location, so check with your closest Whole Foods to see what the new closing time will be. (Whole Foods is letting seniors aged 60 and over shop at their stores one hour before the store opens each day.)
_ Fresh Market announced new store hours on March 18. New hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week. The store is also devoting the first shopping hour each day to seniors "and other individuals most at risk (those with chronic health conditions such as heart disease or diabetes)." The store is asking those who are not in those categories to wait until 9 a.m. to shop.
_ Germany-based ALDI stores across the U.S. will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily to accommodate restocking and cleaning.
Food Lion continues regular store hours
When reached on March 14, a spokesperson for Food Lion, a Salisbury, N.C.-based chain with the largest market share in the Triangle after Walmart, was not aware of any changes to store hours.
The latest update on the Food Lion website does not indicate changes to store hours as of March 19.
Food Lion sent an email to customers outlining new cleaning practices and promising to try to keep shelves stocked.
"As you can imagine, certain high-demand items, such as household cleaning products, may temporarily be out of stock, but we are working as fast as possible to restock our shelves with these items."
