Upscale Oregon grocery chain New Seasons has begun limiting the number of customers it will allow inside its stores, joining other retailers in an effort to reduce the chances of the coronavirus spreading among shoppers or staff.

The new practices aim to make shopping safer, but having to wait outside stores may exacerbate shoppers’ anxiety amid persistent shortages of many popular items, especially toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

Supermarkets and food suppliers say food supplies are adequate but they are facing constraints in moving products from processing facilities and warehouses into stores.

New Seasons said Sunday that the number of customers allowed inside will vary based on each store’s size, from 50 to 100 customers at a time.

The company said its stores are generally well stocked but it continues to limit individual purchases of toilet paper, hand sanitizer, meat, aloe vera gel and bleach, among other times.

New Seasons has about 20 stores altogether, including 18 in the Portland area.

Some stores began implementing the limits Saturday, according to New Seasons. The rest will roll it out by Monday. Like other chains, it also offers pickup and delivery options.

New Seasons said it will soon adopt technology that enables customers to be summoned from their car or elsewhere nearby when it’s their turn to shop, so they don’t have to wait in a physical line. The company asked that families send a single shopper rather than come as a group.

“We have been working tirelessly with our store operations teams and the local health authorities to determine temporary store procedures to help protect our staff and customers,” Forrest Hoffmaster, New Seasons’ CEO, said in a written statement. “We feel confident in the preventative measures we are taking to uphold the health and safety of our community.”

Fred Meyer did not respond to a request for comment. Albertsons and Safeway (the same company operating under two names) said it is not limiting the number of customers.

“We will monitor the need on a daily basis, as well as comply immediately with any governmental orders,” spokeswoman Jill McGinnis wrote Sunday.

Costco announced customer restrictions last week after weeks of fevered buying at its warehouses. Some Oregon liquor stores have adopted similar practices.

Many stores, including New Seasons, Safeway and Albertsons, have asked customers to reserve early hours on some days for older shoppers and others especially vulnerable to infection.

Grocery workers have privately expressed concerns to The Oregonian/OregonLive about potential coronavirus exposure at work, especially after Fred Meyer acknowledged last week that one Portland employee had apparently been infected.

Also Sunday, New Seasons said it will begin paying employees a bi-weekly bonus, offering them additional time off and increase the staff discount to 30%. Fred Meyer announced bonuses and expanded benefits Saturday.

While many businesses have closed and laid off workers during the coronavirus outbreak, supermarkets, food producers and delivery companies are hiring frantically to meet customer demand.

-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699

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