Hanover Co-op’s 3/20 Update: CHANGE IN HOURS and more

The following Covid-19 update covers new changes and a recap of updates from this week.

1. Effective Sunday 3/22, we will be shortening hours at some of our store locations. The Community Market, Hanover and White River Junction Stores will all operate 7am-6pm.

Our Lebanon store will continue to operate from 7am-9pm, but we will reserve the final hour (8 pm to 9 pm) for people identified by the state and federal government as ‘essential personnel’ (including employees who work in medical, fire, law enforcement fields, as well as others identified here).

The earlier closing time at three of our stores should allow for additional time for cleaning and stocking shelves. It will also allow us to provide better coverage during the day and allow employees to go home earlier.  Please remember first hour of each day (7am – 8 am) across all of our stores is reserved for those deemed as high risk by the CDC.

2. The Department of Homeland Security has taken an important step in protecting our nation’s food supply by designating grocery workers as essential personnel. 

3. The Hanover Co-op’s Leadership Team has received many comments about curbside pickup and delivery options. Our first focus has been to ensure our store shelves have food for our community. Our next priority is to ensure that we can provide a pickup/delivery service to meet the anticipated surge in demand. Currently, we are aggressively working on a plan to address this and we expect to launch a pilot program. There will be more details about this program soon.

4. Here is a recap of recent changes and updates to-date. So far, we have:

• Strengthened our supply chain by working with new distribution channels
• Begun sourcing products from new vendors
• Shifted our product focus to essential items
• Limited in-person gatherings to fewer than 10 people
• Shifted our Annual Meeting to an online format
• Cancelled all classes at our Co-op Learning Center
• Limited self-serve, unpackaged food items within our stores
• Eliminated weekend hours at the service center, yet we continue with weekday service.
• Maintained gas and diesel sales at our Auto Service Center on South Park Street, Hanover are happening as usual from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily

Most importantly, we continue to be inspired by the resiliency, dedication, and extraordinary teamwork displayed by our employees throughout all facilities of the Hanover Co-op.  We are a community-owned business, and they are at the heart of everything we are able to accomplish.

Our next planned update will come Monday, March 23. If conditions warrant, we will post an update over the weekend, but none are planned at this time.