

What normally is a 24-hour delivery window has turned in to four or five days. Stores offering home delivery are struggling to keep up. There has been a mad dash to the grocery store like we have never seen before,” Pesce said. “We are trying to keep our stores stocked and trying to keep our staff safe, and our customers safe. He said grocers are racing to catch up with pandemic-related demands, but that’s tough with changes occurring daily. Wayne Pesce, president of the Connecticut Food Association, said the state’s grocers have been overwhelmed from a supply chain standpoint. There’s a lot of companies that don’t have what we have.” Grocers facing unprecedented supply chain challenges A lot of people from the restaurant industry have ended up with us because of the better hours and the opportunity to get insurance. “When we do have people who express an interest, we really try to work with them and help them build a future with benefits. “We really shine on our specialty meats and not that many people want to become expert meat-cutters anymore,” Devanney said. Also, finding people interested in learning a trade can be tough. In normal times, finding sufficient labor can be a struggle. “I learned what every produce item was and what the PLU numbers were so that I could start on the register as soon as possible,” she recalled. She started in the Highland Park produce department when she was 14. An early startĭevanney grew up in the grocery business. Our customers really enjoy coming in and getting a good quality breakfast at a great price in the morning,” she said. “We just started doing breakfast sandwiches in our store locations, and that has gone really well. Prepared foods are increasingly popular with customers. There also is a new hot bar and salad bar area.

Devanney said the improvements included enlarging the deli department and creating more space for foods to go. Highland Park recently completed a multi-million-dollar remodeling of its Farmington store. Where we are is really good right now, but down the road we may be looking into something more.” “We are really enjoying our stores and we are managing them well and we have great staff where we are now,” she said. Devanney, whose grandfather founded the company in 1958, said the current roster of stores is a good number, but the chain is willing to examine future opportunities for expansion Highland Park stores range in size from 14,000 s.f.

We reach out to companies that we believe are the best that you can get.” Our meat departments and deli departments have Bell & Evans chicken, and the fish we use is Foley Fish, which is top quality. We partner with Certified Angus Beef to make sure that all the beef in our cases is 100 percent certified. “If they want one pork chop, we give them one pork chop, not a package of four. “We really try to make it a full-service experience for our customers,” she said.
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The chain is known for offering full service in all of its departments. One of her cousins operates a fifth store in Coventry. “We are taking a risk just coming to work.ĭevanney’s family operates four Highland Park stores in the Hartford area. “We try to look out for our community the best we can,” she said. to ask for items to be set aside for them. Highland Park stores open at 8 a.m., but Devanney said customers start calling at 6:30 a.m. Having great relationships with a variety of suppliers has been very beneficial.” The restaurants are not as busy, so we have reached out to some of their suppliers to get some supplies. We have had to reach out to different vendors to get some stock. “Some people understand and some don’t, but we are continually trying to educate the consumer and to educate our staff so that they can let people know why we are out of Lysol wipes and when we can expect to have some in. “We’re also dealing with truck delays and the effects of being out of some stock,” she said. Employees are working hard to restock shelves and perform extra cleaning of surfaces. Molly Devanney, a company VP interviewed during the first weeks of the pandemic, said activity has been crazy. Employees at Highland Park Markets, a Hartford, Connecticut, area grocer, are working hard to serve customers during the coronavirus crisis.
