Jersey City Designating Hours for Elderly, Pregnant at Area Grocery Stores

The scenes have played out over the past week—hordes of shoppers descending upon stores nationwide in search of supplies for whatever might lie ahead.

And more scenes from Trader Joe’s pic.twitter.com/wsySM0Pgh2

— HobokenGirl.com (@thehobokengirl) March 12, 2020

In an effort to make it easier for the city’s less mobile residents, Jersey City has announced that it will designate hours for the elderly and pregnant to shop at area grocery stores.

Starting Tuesday, March 17, stores with three or more registers will be open for elderly and pregnant shoppers ONLY, from 9-11 a.m.

Fears over disruption in supply chains has prompted a degree of unnecessary bulk purchasing. Ideally, residents want to make sure they have enough supplies for two weeks. It might make sense to plan out a list and make sensible purchases, rather than impulse grabbing whatever is left on the shelves.

Residents are advised to stock up on essentials, including:

• non-perishable goods (pasta, rice, beans)
• items for the freezer (meats, prepared foods)
• cleaning supplies
• medicines

While the bigger stores are seeing heavy traffic, anecdotal accounts indicate that shopping at smaller markets and bodegas has been less daunting.

Meanwhile, area efforts to combat price gouging are underway.

“The hard-working men and women from the Hudson County Office of Weights and Measures will be out in full force to ensure that no business is able to use the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to raise prices on essential items,” Hudson County Sheriff Frank X. Schillari told TapInto Bayonne on Sunday. “We are aggressively investigating every single report of price gouging that we are notified of and holding those individuals in violations of the law accountable to the fullest extent.”

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