Whole Foods, Safeway among Bay Area grocery stores offering seniors-only hours

FILE-- Grocery stores across the Bay Area are adjusting their hours to accommodate senior shoppers during the coronavirus pandemic. FILE-- Grocery stores across the Bay Area are adjusting their hours to accommodate senior shoppers during the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: SAUL LOEB, AFP/Getty Images Photo: SAUL LOEB, AFP/Getty Images Image 1 of / 50 Caption Close Whole Foods, Safeway among Bay Area grocery stores offering seniors-only hours 1 / 50 Back to Gallery

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UPDATE: More grocery stores have added designated shopping hours for seniors and the most vulnerable.

Grocery stores around the Bay Area and beyond are adjusting their store hours to make sure seniors and other at-risk persons can cross items off their shopping list.

On Wednesday, Whole Foods and Safeway were among some of the grocery chains that have added designated store hours for customers who are most at risk of catching COVID-19. Target also announced that it would reserve the first store hour for seniors and vulnerable guests at stores nationwide. Those guests can begin shopping at 8 a.m. every Wednesday moving forward.

Other changes customers will notice is that some grocery stores have opted to close stores earlier to make sure they can restock the shelves each night. Trader Joe's hasn't indicated special store hours for seniors at this time, but the popular chain announced that they would switch its store hours from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. to help support its staff and customers.

See a list of grocery stores adjusting store hours and details below:

Albertsons: Albertsons has reserved two hours from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m on Tuesdays and Thursdays for senior customers and at-risk guests that include pregnant women and immunocompromised persons. (Albertsons Companies include Safeway, Lucky and Andronico's, among others, that will adopt similar store hours.)

Piedmont Grocery: The Oakland grocery store announced special hours in the weeks to come. Beginning March 22, customers 65 and older will be able to shop between 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. every morning. The local store added that it would close March 19 to clean and restock the store but it would reopen as usual March 20. Starting March 22, store hours will change from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. for general shoppers. (Piedmont Grocery is located at 4038 Piedmont Ave. in Oakland.)

Rainbow Grocery: On March 19, the San Francisco market will adjust its store hours to let persons 60 years of age and older shop between 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. every day. Starting March 19, the store will also be closing at 7 p.m. (Rainbow Grocery is located at 1745 Folsom St. in San Francisco).

Real Food Company: For the foreseeable future, Real Food Company in San Francisco will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. for seniors only, as well as any high-risk individuals. Regular hours for all other patrons is 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Real Food Company is located at 2140 Polk St. in San Francisco).

Safeway: Senior customers and at-risk guests will have special shopping hours at Safeway stores between 7 a.m. to 9 a.m on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (Find your local store here.)

Target: Senior citizens and people with underlying health concerns can shop at Target stores nationwide every Wednesday starting at 8 a.m. Additionally, all Target stores across the country will close at 9 p.m. to restock their shelves. (Find your local store here.)

Whole Foods: Starting March 18, customers 60 years of age or older can shop at Whole Foods at 8 a.m., which is an hour before the store opens to the general public. Whole Foods announced that some stores would close up to two hours earlier to let team members restock shelves and sanative the store. (Find your local store here.)

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PREVIOUSLY: A small South Bay grocery store chain is enforcing a seniors-only shopping hour due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Starting March 17, Zanotto's Family Market is setting aside the 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. hour daily for shoppers who are 60 and older.

"Everything will have just been cleaned, stores will be less crowded," Zanotto's wrote on Facebook. "This hour is for you."

People 60 and older are considered at a much higher risk for complications or death due to COVID-19.

"Immune system to fight infections wanes with increasing age," said Dr. Lee Riley, a UC Berkeley professor and chair of the Division of Infectious Disease and Vaccinology. "Also, underlying medial problems, for example diabetes and COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease], are more common in this age group, which predispose them to respiratory infections."

Zanotto's move mirrors several chains in Europe which began implementing special times for senior shoppers. Iceland, a chain in Ireland, was among the first to add seniors-only shopping in the morning to "make sure the experience is as stress-free as possible" for vulnerable individuals.

Regular hours for other Zanotto's shoppers will be 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. until further notice. Like many other grocery stores, Zanotto's is closing earlier than usual to give workers more time to restock and clean the store each day.

Zanotto's has five locations in the South Bay:

Zanotto's Family Market: Rose Garden

1970 Naglee Ave.

San Jose

Zanotto's Fruitdale

1520 Southwest Expressway

San Jose

Zanotto's Willow Glen

1421 Foxworthy

San Jose

Zanotto's Express

80 S. 1st St.

San Jose

Zanotto's Sunnyvale

1356 S. Mary Ave.

Sunnyvale

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Katie Dowd is a senior digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: katie.dowd@sfgate.com