Coronavirus: Industry Impact 2020

Supermarket, Grocery, & C-Store

• 7-Eleven Inc. announced it plans to hire more than 20,000 new workers to meet continued demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Meijer Inc. is offering customers text-accessible pharmacy customer experience. The new contactless pharmacy tool can manage prescriptions, schedule vaccinations and allow customers to fill out required forms.

• Southeastern Grocers has teamed up with Uber to offer online grocery delivery service in Florida through its Cornershop-powered e-grocery marketplace.

Retail

• CVS Health is adding more than 2,000 new COVID-19 drive-thru test sites. The company expects to have more than 4,000 operating by mid-October.

• It’Sugar has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing the effects of the pandemic. The retailer plans to continue to operate its stores while the bankruptcy proceedings are ongoing.

• Lowe’s Companies Inc. is adding pickup lockers at all U.S. stores. The retailer will install the self-service lockers for buy-online-pickup-in-store orders by the end of March 2021, but plans to have the lockers installed in most major metro markets by Thanksgiving.

• Sam’s Club plans to roll out its contactless Scan & Go Fuel feature to clubs across the country by the end of the year.

• Walmart Stores Inc. is using drone delivery to send at-home COVID-19 self-collection kits through a partnership with Quest Diagnostics and DroneUp.

• Walmart Stores Inc. plans to hire more than 20,000 seasonal associates in its e-commerce fulfillment centers across the country.

Restaurant

• CEC Entertainment Inc. is getting rid of their paper tickets and moving towards eTickets. The move was prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the company will be destroying more than 7 billion paper tickets.

• Luby’s Inc. CEO Christopher Pappas is considering buying some assets of the company. Luby’s is planning a full liquidation of its assets pending shareholder approval.