Hi everyone. Joe Fasula again. We are still working feverishly to keep the shelves stocked and keep everything clean.

I have a lot of updates to report:

Senior Citizen Shopping:
This is the most important news. Beginning next week, we will open exclusively for Senior Citizens on Tuesdays from 7 AM – 9 AM. This will include people 60 and over and it will be strictly enforced. An ID will be required. Helpers, Aids or family members under 60 will not be allowed in the store. It will only be for senior citizens. If you need to have a helper or aid, we ask that you instead send them to the store to shop for you during the time for the general public. Keep in mind that the whole point of this is to allow seniors to shop in an isolated environment. Depending on how this is received and how much demand there is, we may consider other days. This is a big move for us because we are very sensitive to the inconvenience that this may cause for other shoppers. However, we feel that it is a decision that will serve the greater good. under 60 shoppers will be allowed into the store at 9 AM sharp.

Store Hours:
Beginning Thursday 3/19, we will be closing all stores one hour early every day to do additional cleaning. This means
9 PM Mon-Sat and 8 PM on Sunday. We have been cleaning this whole time, but we feel that we can be more efficient without customers in the store. More importantly, this will allow our already exhausted team to start cleaning earlier and get home earlier.

Advertised sales:
Due to the inconsistency of supply, many retailers are canceling advertising. We disagree with this. We are committed to passing along every penny of savings that we can. Whatever we get on sale, you will get on sale. You will still see the Shursave circular in your paper this week and you will still see sale signs on our shelves. We just ask for your understanding if we are out of something. We will continue to limit all high demand items whether they are on sale or not. We will not be substituting and we will not be issuing rain-checks.
We will also still be sending out our weekly produce email blast. We have a lot of great items this week. If you aren’t receiving it, you can sign up by registering your email on your Gold Club account using the link at the bottom of this post. The only exception to our advertising commitment is our daily Facebook deals. It is too difficult for us to try to ensure the supply of one item for one day when we don’t know if we will even receive a truck that day. We hope you understand our reasoning for these decisions.

Meat:
Of course, the big question is… Where’s the beef? (and chicken and pork) The answer is: it’s all coming tomorrow (Wednesday 3/18). We don’t know what time, but our suppliers assure us that we will have it. The rest of the week is hard to predict at this point, but we will have meat coming in daily. As I’ve said in the past, there is no reason to worry. The farmers are still going to work. However, to ensure as much supply as possible, we will limit all items to two packs per household.

Produce:
We have a lot of produce flowing into the stores and prices are staying pretty stable. We might even be able to get some really good buys to pass along. It seems that the produce market may have avoided the giant stock-up craziness.

Grocery/Dairy/Frozen:
The shelves are filling back up and so is the supply chain. The worst of it might be behind us unless there’s a substantial government lockdown that impedes production and transportation. You may not find the exact brand or size you want, but if you come for pasta, you will get pasta. The big challenge is getting it from the warehouse to the store. There’s plenty of supply, just not enough warehouse workers, trucks and drivers.

Other notes:
-We have closed our salad bars and olive bars. We will be pre-packing these items.
-Our buffets will be service only. We will have employees there to serve you.
-Since restaurants are take out only, we will be closing our cafe seating areas to customers.

Finally,
We have a very big surprise for my work family who might be reading this post. As you know, we bought you all lunch yesterday to acknowledge what an amazing job you have done. Now we want to do something even bigger. Starting this week and going through April 5th, every member of our team will receive an additional dollar per hour. You have all worked so hard and done so much to take care of our customers that we wanted to show our appreciation. Thank you again!

That’s all for now!
Sincerely,
Joe Fasula
Co-owner

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Hi everyone. This is Joe Fasula, co-owner.

I want to update you on where we stand. First, I’d like to call out the picture below – you’ve probably seen this before, but did you know it comes from Britain in World War II? As they were being shelled from above, the country maintained its class and composure throughout. This sign became a rallying cry and a source of pride for the people. I think it is important that we, as a community, follow their example. Stay calm. We got this! As a country, as a community and as Gerrity’s, we will get through it.

…and as Gerrity’s, I want to let you know what we are doing:

We are contacting every supplier we can to get as much product as possible. We may be out of a lot of items at times, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t be able to get more. for example, we have talked to companies like Hatfield who is increasing production as we speak. Just be patient and know that more is on the way.

We have a lot of product inbound and we are increasing orders whenever possible. Please understand that demand may drive prices higher. For example, we have strawberries ordered for this week’s ad. The cost was $3.00 per package and we have them advertised as a loss leader for $2.99. We think we will have enough, but if we have to order more, it will be at the higher cost of $4.63 per package. In that case, we would sell them for $4.63. You have my word that we will maintain our normal mark-up OR LESS throughout this ordeal.

We will be placing limits on products. We have limits on many items already and more will be coming. The items we limit will be in response to supply and demand. Our goal is to serve as many people as possible and that will be the best way. At some point, we may just institute an across the board limit. If you see this, don’t get worried. It is just to keep the product on the shelves so everyone can get some.

Our employees have answered the call of duty. However, they are getting tired. Many have worked long hours and extra days (We are paying salaried people extra for their extra days) They are all doing an awe-inspiring job, but please be patient with them. We need them to stay in good spirits, which has certainly been the case so far. Also, if you know anyone looking for work, please have them contact one of our stores or our HR department at 570-342-4144 ext 1020. They can also apply here: https://gerritys.com/apply-online/
This is especially important if they have supermarket or food service experience. We welcome any help, but it would be much easier if we don’t have to train them from scratch right now.

I am in daily contact with our packaging and chemical supplier, Northeast Penn Supply in Scranton. They have done everything possible to keep cart wipes, disinfectant spray, and packaging flowing into our stores. As you know first hand, wipes are a hot commodity right now. The same goes for cart wipes. As I write this post, we have cart wipes and more are coming on Thursday, but I don’t know if we will have enough to make it until then. I am asking that you please use only one wipe when you come in. We need to make them last. However, if we do run out of cart wipes, we will figure out a solution to keep the carts clean for every single customer.

Please follow our page for future updates. As time allows and as necessity demands, I will post additional updates. We will continue to do our very best for you every day because NEPA is our home and you’re our family. Hang in there.

Sincerely,
Joe Fasula

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