Malelane SUPERSPAR makes the best of Covid-19
It has been more than a month that Malelane SUPERSPAR has been open after having to shut down for two weeks during early lockdown due to positive Covid-19 coronavirus cases.
MALALANE – Lex Hollmann mentioned in one of his latest video updates that the biggest lesson the store had learned from isolation was that it needs to operate on more than one shift.
“It creates challenges because you’re operating on seven days on and seven days off shift. In our case, it hasn’t made a major difference, because the number of customers has halved. On the positive side, each customer’s basket spend is about double, so really we’re trading at exactly the same level as last year.
“Imports have not really been a big factor for us, although manufacturers are focusing on their main production lines. Slower lines are not being produced in as high a quantity, or have been discontinued on a temporary basis,” Hollmann said.
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Rising prices of stock have been an issue throughout the country and this is how Malelane SUPERSPAR has handled the situation, “On flour, we have bought in additional stock and kept the price at the same level. The rest of the products we have allowed the price to flow through as it has been received. We follow the pricing set by SPAR on 99 per cent of our goods.”
Despite having multiple safety measures implemented in the store, Hollmann touched on social distancing as one of his biggest challenges.
“At month end when the volumes of people come to town, we are challenged to maintain the numbers in the store. This is what creates the long queues.”
Hollmann mentioned that there has been no further contact with the Department of Health. “I assume they visit the store but nobody has come to see me again. We have not had official visitors who have been logged in our attendance register.”
As for the staff, the store has made an effort to continue to pay them for their normal hours, even though they are working one week on and one week off.
“During the period of our closure, there was incredible support from SPAR and our customers. They were contacting us and sending us messages, hoping for our return.
“We have something to really be thankful for – we’re actually open, our customers are coming to shop with us and our sales are still at the same level as last year.”
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