Hoboken Kings Supermarkets Give Update On Sanitizing Measures

HOBOKEN, NJ – When the uptown Kings supermarket in Hoboken announced on May 9 that one of their employees had tested positive for coronavirus — but had been out of work since April 23 — the company got more calls than stores in other towns that had made similar announcements, said spokeswoman Kim Yorio recently. As a result, she wanted to make clear how the store has been responding and sanitizing.

Yorio said that at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, many supermarkets were announcing when an associate tested positive, but some soon stopped. She said the CEO of Kings has prioritized cleanliness and transparency, but the latter priority means the company has received many questions from shoppers.

Yorio said, “Kings has always had reputation of being a super-clean store. It’s one of the things they base the brand on. You could almost eat off the floors. Associates never have their masks off; they change gloves all the time, and it’s a pristine store. Once [the pandemic] started, Judy Spires, who’s the CEO, said two things were the driving force. She wanted to be as transparent with customers as she could be, and she wanted to protect the team, which protects customers.”

She said the team installed PlexiGlass barriers at the registers, and discovered they needed to be extended, so they extended them.

She said all parts of the stores undergo frequent wipe-downs, and the stores keep capacity of customers to 30 percent. Customers and staff must wear masks at all times.

For additional safety, "All meat and seafood is tray-packed and wrapped in plastic and in the case," Yorio said.

Hoboken has two Kings stores, one in the Shipyard development uptown and one a block from the South Waterfront. Yorio said that neither has had another employee who tested positive.

On May 9, the company sent an email just to customers who’d shopped at the uptown store in the previous 30-day period. They were identified because they had used their Kings cards, she said.

The email said, “On May 9, 2020, we were notified that an individual working in the Hoboken North store tested positive for COVID-19. We immediately enacted our Emergency COVID-19 Coronavirus Response Protocol and through this process no other associates were identified in prolonged close contact."

It noted, "In addition to our daily enhanced sanitation protocols as prescribed by the FDA, the store is being thoroughly disinfected by outside professionals."

Yorio said the Hoboken store got more calls than their Short Hills store, even though the latter is larger. She said the difference was likely because of the Patch story.

She said the store got “Three kinds of calls. One was, 'How come I didn’t get this letter?' [likely because the letters were only sent to those who used their card in the previous 30 days]. Another call was, " 'What is the risk to me?' And the answer is that the company is 100 percent confident that we're using every possible disinfectant and safety measure that exists."

She said the third type of call was, "Why are you telling me this?" She replied, “We’re a community grocery store, and transparency is an important value to the CEO. If you don't know what's going on, how can you have trust in us?"

As for the employee in question, Yorio said, "The Kings associate has recovered fully and is back at work."

Sign up for Hoboken Patch breaking news alerts and daily newsletters here.

Yorio said the store is continuing a special shopping hour first thing in the morning or seniors and the immune compromised, from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.

There are also new store hours at Kings stores in Hoboken this week, 7 a.m to 9 p.m., seven days a week.

They also have new products. Yorio said that because of the crisis, the store has been able to stock foods that were available only to restaurants.

"Kings is carrying Pat LaFrieda Meats, specialty seafood, and a wide variety of local poultry," she said. "Local produce has started coming in and the shelves are full and bright."

All covid policies can be found here: https://kingsfoodmarkets.com/info/FAQs

Other recent Hoboken business news:

• First Street will be reserved for pedestrians and shoppers this Sunday, and more restaurants are adding "streateries" for outdoor dining. READ MORE.
• More than 50 of the city's restaurants opened last week for outdoor dining. READ MORE.
• Two of the city's weekly farmers' markets reopened this month. READ MORE.
• The city and Patch both have directories of businesses that are open and closed. Check it out and add your listing. READ MORE.
• The city will be closing off certain blocks for businesses to expand and draw foot traffic. READ MORE.
• Read more about unemployment, small business, and other coronavirus regulations and benefits in New Jersey here.

Got local news? Email caren.lissner@patch.com. To keep up with local breaking news when it happens, and get a free local newsletter each morning, sign up for Patch breaking news alerts and daily newsletters.