Some supermarkets want to ban in-store customers, but can’t seem to make it work

Despite efforts by supermarket management, such as limiting the number of customers shopping and daily employee temperature checks, dozens of grocery store workers have perished from Covid-19. And while chains such as Whole Foods and Kroger have closed a few stores down to fulfill curbside pickups and deliveries only, the drastic action of banning in-store customers still doesn’t seem feasible. “We have no choice. They have to stay open. [America’s grocery] delivery system has not matured to the point where we can switch to an entirely remote system,” Seth Harris, former deputy secretary of labor, told CNN. Even if finding an open delivery slot was possible, hiring the extra hands to fulfill those orders would only increase the number of employees within a location, eliminating social distancing—and would ultimately chip away at an already-thin profit margin.