Beginning this week, Tops will be rolling out additional safety measures at all of its 162 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. Those safety measures include providing all of its associates with American made cloth face masks to ensure their associates health and well-being while serving the community as essential workers. This safety measure is in addition to the 5,000 face shields already distributed to its workforce. These masks have been ordered from multiple providers in order to ensure that the quantities needed are available.
The masks that Tops is providing to their associates are American made, which was important to Tops as a company. An added bonus was that some masks were even made locally in Buffalo, NY, where Tops is headquartered. Tops is confident that the masks will be distributed to all associates by the end of this week. In the meantime disposable masks will be available.
“There is nothing more important to Tops than the health and safety of our associates, customers, vendors, and their respective families,” said chairman and CEO for Tops Friendly Markets, Frank Curci. “We have been laser-focused on COVID-19 since it became clear that the United States was going to be greatly impacted by this pandemic and can assure the public that we are implementing the safety and sanitation protocols that are being recommended by the experts available to us. As this crisis has unfolded, I know that our protocols have evolved to stay abreast of the latest medical and scientific advice coming from these health experts and Tops can pledge to you that we are fully engaged on this task for the sake of all involved.”
Tops is also 90% complete with the installation of Plexiglas on both sides of its registers as of today, and is complete with the installation of Plexiglas at all of its customer service desks, pharmacy, and fuel stations. In total the company will have installed nearly 1,000 Plexiglas safety shields by close of business on Wednesday, April 15. Additional safety measures rolled out at all stores include providing gloves for their associates, hand sanitizer and wipes for their associates and customers respectively, and the newly instituted Comfort Zone areas at the registers, pharmacy, and deli areas, which provides more social distancing between customers as well as the customer and Tops associate. Further, an associate is assigned at each store specifically in charge of sanitization of the front end registers, check stands, conveyor belts, customer service desks, point of sale devices, restrooms, and other frequently touched surfaces most accessed by customers on a continual basis during operating hours.
