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Kroger ‘Blueprint for Businesses’ offers cross-industry coronavirus action plan

CEO Rodney McMullen: ‘We are sharing what we’ve learned to help businesses begin to reopen safely’

Russell Redman

April 22, 2020

4 Min Read
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In the blueprint installment for retail operations, Kroger explains ways to educate employees and customers on healthy habits, promote physical distancing, augment cleaning procedures and more.Kroger

As the biggest U.S. supermarket operator and one of the nation’s largest companies, The Kroger Co. is offering up its coronavirus response as a blueprint for other businesses as they ponder reopening plans.

Kroger late yesterday released “Sharing What We've Learned: A Blueprint for Businesses,” the first installment of a series of recommendations for retailers, restaurants and foodservice companies, manufacturers, logistics and distribution centers, and other industries looking at how to establish safe work environments amid the lingering risk of COVID-19.

Inside the 17-page blueprint are actions and learnings that Kroger has applied in the past six weeks to protect employees, customers and the communities it serves. The recommendations also reflect what Kroger has learned via regular interaction with business leaders in other nations, including Italy, Singapore and China — all of which, the company noted, were ahead of the United States in terms of the pandemic cycling through their countries.

 

“With nearly 2,800 grocery stores, 35 manufacturing plants, 44 distribution centers and 460,000 associates across the country, Kroger has learned and continues to learn a lot while keeping our stores and supply chain open and serving America during the pandemic,” Kroger Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen said in a statement. “As an essential business, we have led with our purpose to ‘Feed the Human Spirit’ and have taken extensive measures across our footprint to safeguard our associates, customers and supply chain. We are sharing what we’ve learned to help businesses begin to reopen safely and in sync with their respective state plans.”

Related:Kroger’s Rodney McMullen: ‘Way too early to speculate on customer behavior’

Kroger said the blueprint emerged following inquiries late last week by several governors and business organizations, which asked the company to help their state’s businesses to reopen safely. In 36 hours, Kroger developed a new platform,  KrogerBlueprint.com, to provide immediate assistance to states and businesses. The plan will be updated regularly with new learnings, the company said.

“We decided from the onset of this crisis that transparency, agility and responsiveness would be our guiding principles,” according to McMullen, “and we are now sharing what we’ve learned as an extension of our values.”

Kroger’s blueprint includes COVID-19 safety recommendations for retail, manufacturing, distribution center/supply chain, foodservice/restaurant and office environments, but the company said many of the processes can be adapted by any business sector. Available now is a downloadable PDF of the blueprint for the retail sector, along with in-store creative assets such as signs and audio files to encourage social distancing; direct customer traffic; and explain coronavirus-related safety, promotional and product return policies. Kroger said will continue to update the blueprint with more recommendations, insights, best practices, tools and templates for other industries.

Related:Kroger teams with UFCW in call for grocery worker ‘first responder’ status

“It’s critical for businesses to let their values guide their actions and to develop protocols and procedures in advance of re-entering the marketplace to safely reopen, protecting customers and employees and flattening the curve,” McMullen noted. “We recognize that not all businesses are the same. What worked for us may not work for some companies. And while there is no ‘one thing’ that makes all the difference, taking a comprehensive, thoughtful approach to safety will lead to better outcomes.”

For example, in the blueprint installment for retail operations, Kroger explains ways to educate employees and customers on healthy habits, promote physical distancing, augment cleaning procedures, modify store hours and encourage the use of personal protective equipment. The company, too, covers ways to monitor and support employee health, such as through emergency sick leave and temperature/health checks, and to help prepare workers for difficult situations.

“We share our learnings with the same spirit that many business leaders from around the world have generously shared their experiences with our company, which helped us anticipate the steps we needed to take to provide a safe environment for our associates and customers,” added McMullen. “We know that we don’t — and we won’t — have all the answers; no one business or organization will. It will take all of us sharing openly the ingenuity that has always been the heart of American free enterprise to get through this together, allowing America to come out stronger.”

For our most up-to-date coverage, visit the coronavirus homepage.

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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