BRUNSWICK — The grocery clerk look exhausted as he handed a five-lb. bag of flour directly to a shopper as he worked to fill the empty shelves with a newly arrived shipment.

"You look tired. Have you worked all night?"

In fact, he had, he confirmed as she thanked him.

Demand for all kinds of staples, from bathroom tissue and frozen pizzas to flour, sugar and bread, has surged as consumers have rushed stores to stock up in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Supermarkets and other stores that sell groceries are having a hard time keeping products on their shelves. On Thursday, Price Chopper and Market 32 announced they would add another 2,000 part-time workers to augment their increasingly exhausted employees.

“The pandemic outbreak has been devastating to so many businesses and their employees. At the same time, we must keep our stores open to provide the community with vital goods and services — and though our exceptional teammates are working around the clock to do this - we need some extra help," said Mike Miller, Price Chopper/Market 32's vice president of human resources operations. "It’s our hope that this hiring opportunity provides relief to many for the sake of serving many more within our communities.”

The 2,000 new employees will help staff the company's 132 stores in six states.

Meanwhile, Hannaford supermarkets, saying it needed all available personnel to restock the shelves, has temporarily suspended its in-store pickup service in which shoppers could select items online and have them ready for pickup when they arrive at the store.

Hannaford expects to start the service again at the end of March.

“As of Thursday, March 19, we have paused the Hannaford To Go online shopping service temporarily to redirect those associates to restocking store shelves as quickly as possible for all customers. Service will resume at the end of March,” according to a notice on the company’s website.

“We are working around the clock to ensure that we are as well stocked as we possibly can be. We have placed purchase limits on high demand items in order to make them available for as many customers as possible.”

Hannaford is also looking to bring on more employees. Company spokeswoman Ericka Dodge. "To support demand, better serve customers and provide some relief to our store teams, Hannaford is hiring full and part time associates at most of our 182 stores in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York," she said in a prepared statement. "During this time, we are experiencing unprecedented demand at our stores. We are working diligently to meet the needs of our customers and the community."

Other companies hiring include Stewart's Shops and Target. Nationally, Amazon said it was hiring 100,000 people.

Still, while those retailers, as well as logistics and delivery companies, are seeing strong demand, airlines, hotels, and restaurants have been forced to lay off many of their employees.

Price Chopper on Thursday said it is "expediting the hiring and training process so that new teammates can begin working almost immediately." Candidates can apply online at: https://www.pricechopper.com/careers/

The company said it also hopes to begin holding in-store hiring events in the near future.

Both Price Chopper and Hannaford have instituted senior shopping hours from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. The corona virus is considered extra-dangerous for those 60 and over. Those people are being urged to take extra precautions to avoid contracting the virus. Opening the store just for seniors would presumably allow them to get in and out faster, thus limiting exposure.

“We look forward to extending our family and sharing our sense of purpose, as we weather these challenging times,” said Miller.