Assiniboia welcomes Weyburn Red Wings with open arms during ammonia shutdown
6h ago
Billets were found for all Red Wings players in just four hours.
Things are quite a bit different now at Dad’s Organic Market in Regina than they were even two months ago.
“We have to clean everything every morning when we come in. Everything gets wiped down, all the tills — everything,” said Theresa Klotz, general manager of the store.
There are now red X’s taped to the floor at the tills to tell customers where to stand and there’s a large plexiglas “sneeze guard” separating the cashiers and customers. Even getting into the store can be different as there’s a 10-person maximum.
Theresa Klotz is the general manager at Dad’s Organic Market in Regina. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)
“We have had to shut our doors a few times. We have to count and we have to shut it, but it’s about a five-minute wait, if that,” explained Klotz.
Klotz said when the public health orders came down, there wasn’t much of a transition period.
“It just kind of, boom, it hit and, you know, we were all worried at first too,” she said. “So we all talked and … we just kind of kept going with it.”
Like many other businesses, the store is now doing email orders with curbside pickup as well. Meghan Rice works at the store and has been filling a lot of those orders.
Rice said everything in the store has been incredibly busy since the pandemic hit and she said it was exhausting at first.
“You’re running and you’re social; it’s a lot,” she said. “And then there’s the stress of the fear that’s going on around everything. So it gets tough and there’s times where I was like, ‘I’m going to need to take an extra day.’ But it has gotten a lot better in the last couple weeks.”
The store has since shortened its hours and now stays closed on Sundays and Mondays to give its employees two days off.
Rice also works the cash register but she said she’s not particularly concerned about interacting with customers.
“I know that I’m doing my due diligence on everything, so even if I don’t like the look of something or I feel a little uncomfortable, I still am washing my hands, washing my till, washing everything immediately after dealing with everybody — anybody.”
She also explained that most people who come in are already wearing masks and gloves anyway.
Some horror stories have emerged from big grocery stores of mean, aggressive or inconsiderate customers, but Rice said she hasn’t experienced anything like that. She said because the market is smaller, people don’t feel the tension they do at bigger stores.
Dad’s Organic Market in Regina has had to make some big changes to keep everyone safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)
“We get that from so many customers, telling us how tense they feel everywhere else they go. So it’s nice coming here for them because we don’t have the arrows coming up and down the aisles, we don’t have the panic on everyone’s face, and you’re not getting yelled at by anyone to step back. It’s just everyone seems very respectful of each other when they come in,” said Rice.
Klotz agreed, saying the market has always been more of a small-town, friendly store.
She said the customers have been incredibly supportive, some even bringing them gift cards and baking as thanks.