Fry’s Food installing glass shields at registers to combat COVID-19 spread

PHOENIX — While grocery stores in Arizona are enhancing their cleaning and sanitation protocols, some are adding another layer of protection – glass shields.

In the next few weeks, Fry’s Food Stores will be installing plexiglass partitions at cash registers inside their 122 stores in Arizona, as well as at pharmacy counters and Starbucks registers.

The plexiglass barriers are meant to protect cashiers and shoppers by decreasing the risk of coronavirus infection.

“This is just another level of precaution to promote physical distancing,” Pam Giannonatti, Fry’s corporate affairs manager, told KTAR News 92.3 FM.

Giannonatti said they’ll also be adding “education floor decals to promote social distancing at the check out lanes and other counters,” which will promote the practice of customers and store employees staying 6 feet away from each other.

Other stores are taking similar measures.

Walmart stores will be installing “sneeze guards” at registers and pharmacy lanes, as well as floor decals at entrances and in checkout lanes.

Albertsons and Safeway stores will also be installing floor decals at checkout lines and stations where people most often congregate, like the bakery, deli and pharmacy areas.

“We have seen our customers begin to implement social distancing on their own with our ‘two carts apart’ reminders as they shop our stores, so we think our floor markers will increase awareness,” Vivek Sankaran, President & CEO of Albertsons Companies, said in a statement.

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