Paul Simon, a spokesman for Schnucks, said it’s looking to add 500 employees in the St. Louis area.

“We’ve seen such an increase in customer traffic in the past week or so,” he said. “We need help on the front end, checking and bagging, and on the clerk end stocking the shelves.”

The chain also has seen “quite a bit” of an increase in its delivery service, which operates through Instacart, Simon said.

The union that represents Schnucks and Dierbergs employees, the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 655, is talking with other labor leaders about helping get temporary jobs for those out of work due to event cancellations and closures. Unite Here Local 74, which represents workers at the some of the region's stadiums, arenas, hotels and casinos, has asked whether some of its members could quickly be moved into grocery jobs.

UFCW Local 655 Communications Director Collin Reischman said the union is in talks with grocers to see if they can "funnel some good union workers into those stores since they are so needed right now." The talks are preliminary but an attempt to help workers in industries that have been "decimated" by the closures, Reischman said.