What Chatham’s chains are going through during COVID-19 pandemic

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There has been a never-ending list of business-related news that has infiltrated my inbox on a daily basis since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States. Mainly, it’s been the economy’s struggle, dropping stock prices, rising unemployment.

I don’t pretend to have the answers to how to properly respond to this from a business standpoint. But what I can do is tell you how the chains, restaurant and retailers that populate Chatham are handling the pandemic and adjusting their efforts to meet social distancing requirements and stay-at-home orders.

So here’s the latest on how Chatham’s chains are responding to COVID-19.

Walmart

The huge department store chain has two locations in Chatham County, one in Siler City off of U.S. Hwy. 64 and the other on the Chatham-Orange county line on U.S. Hwy 15-501.

On April 3, Walmart corporate announced some major changes to its shopping procedures. Stores would only allow five shoppers per 1,000 square feet, around 20 percent of a store’s capacity, and instituted “one-way movement” through aisles.

The chain has been a hotspot in recent weeks for people who, well, feel they’re invincible. On March 18, a 31-year-old North Carolina man was arrested inside an Albermarle County Walmart and charged with perpetrating a hoax after he went on Facebook Live and said he had tested positive for COVID-19. This past Sunday, Carrollton, Texas, police said they were looking for an 18-year-old who had done something similar using SnapChat, according to The Dallas Morning News.

“While many of our customers have been following the advice of the medical community regarding social distancing and safety, we have been concerned to still see some behaviors in our stores that put undue risk on our people,” Dacona Smith, the executive vice president and COO of Walmart U.S., wrote in a post on Walmart’s corporate website on April 3. “We want to encourage customers to bring the fewest number of people per family necessary to shop, allow for space with other customers while shopping, and practice social distancing while waiting in lines.”

Lowe’s Home Improvement

The hardware store chain, which has a Pittsboro location off of U.S. Hwy. 15-501, said in a news release April 2 that it has committed $170 million to its coronavirus response. The announcement said Lowe’s, which is based out of nearby Morrisville, would temporarily increase hourly wage for all associates by $2, close all stores by 7 p.m. for cleaning and supply replenishing and increase third-party cleaning shifts for incremental cleaning.

“We are continually working on ways to protect and support our associates and our customers during this time when we are all adjusting how we work and live,” Marvin Ellison, Lowe’s president and CEO, said in the news release. “I’m announcing these new operational changes as we continue to keep the health and well-being of our associates and customers top of mind, especially as they look to us now more than ever for essential products, services and support.”

Domino’s Pizza

The pizza chain announced April 6 that it would be giving “roughly 10 million slices of pizza” to its local communities, and that every individual Domino’s store would be giving away 200 pizzas. A news release stated that franchisees would be making the decision where to distribute, and that all of the 6,126 Domino’s stores — including the East Street location in Pittsboro — would be participating.

Dollar General

While many businesses are having to lay off employees, some like Dollar General are hiring. The chain of small department stores, which has locations in Pittsboro, Siler City, Goldston and Bennett, said on March 23 it was planning to hire up to 50,000 more employees by the end of April and announced March 30 that it was giving a 10 percent discount on “qualifying purchases” to medical personnel first responders and activated National Guardsmen.

Taco Bell

The Mexi-merican chain has a new stand-alone location in Siler City along with its joint KFC-Taco Bell location in Pittsboro, and according to its CEO Mark King, it’s taking some active steps to both “feed our heroes” and “support our communities.” King said in a March 27 post on the company’s website that it would be turning “Taco Trucks into mobile commissaries, bringing food to community heroes and those who work in essential roles every day,” as well as donating $1 million to No Kid Hungry, a national initiative whose goal is to end childhood hunger.

See any other chains doing something different, good or better during the COVID-19 pandemic? Let me know by emailing zhorner@chathamnr.com or hitting me up on Twitter at @ZachHornerCNR.