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Shorter Hours, Some Restrictions Part Of New Reality For Grocers

Floyd Soren wears a mask against the COVID-19 coronavirus as he displays the toilet paper he purchased at a grocery store Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Grocery stores have been cutting back hours in response to the coronavirus, and some have also started limiting sales of certain high-demand items. 

Kelly Davis, a spokeswoman for Winston-Salem-based Lowes Foods, says they are limiting sales of toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and some cleaning supplies to two per customer.

Davis says the idea has less to do with stopping hoarding and more with making sure there are adequate supplies for those customers who need them.

"Usually, when there are runs on stores in the South, it's people stocking up on the french toast trinity of eggs, milk, and bread. During the outbreak, though, only bread has been the high-demand item," says Davis.

Davis adds most of their bread is locally made and supplies can be quickly replenished. The stores are also boosting in-store bread making.

Fewer hours and supply limits don't mean the stores are losing sales, however. Many are making additional hires as demand soars with the closings of bars and restaurants.

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. Para versión en Español, haga click aquí

Paul Garber is a Winston-Salem native and an award-winning reporter who began his journalism career with an internship at The High Point Enterprise in 1993. He has previously worked at The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The News and Record of Greensboro and the Winston-Salem Journal, where he was the newspaper's first full-time multimedia reporter. He won the statewide Media and the Law award in 2000 and has also been recognized for his business, investigative and multimedia reporting. Paul earned a BA from Wake Forest University and has a Master's of Liberal Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master's of Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in Lewisville.

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