Sylvan Lake’s Sobeys will be taking their curbside pickup into the future beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
The service was a big success with around 250 orders a week at its peak, says Brad Bromley, store owner at Sylvan Lake Sobeys.
He says within the millions of changes the store had to make to keep staff and shoppers safe throughout the pandemic the curbside service was a positive one.
A team was created specifically to handle curbside orders and during its peak in the midst of self-isolation and they were busy nonstop. The service also created jobs in the trying time as more temporary workers had to be hired to add relief during the busy times.
For the first few weeks of the service saw every curbside order contain a flower to help bring light to those cooped up at home.
“It was such a big success and the community supported it, our team loves doing it and now we kind of want to make it a convenience,” Bromley said.
The demand for the service has dropped recently, which Bromley credits to a combination of the nicer weather, the progression of the Province’s relaunch plan and people getting tired of being cooped up.
He says people are back shopping in the store with their families despite the store still kindly asking people to not do so at this time.
“The fear is still there,” he continued, “it’s not like the switch turned off and we’re all safe.”
Those who are still unable to enter stores due to health concerns related to COVID or anyone else who can benefit from having their groceries picked out for them are encouraged to use the curbside service.
“We’re here to try and take that 30 minute or that 20 minute shop [and] take that stress out of your day,” said Bromley, adding he thinks the service will become more popular again in the fall when kids go back to school and extracurricular activities pick back up.
“Get up in the morning, email us, phone us, put your order in, pick it up when you pick your kids up from school and boom it’s done.”
Emailing the store at sby5124sylvanlake@sobeys.com is the easiest way to place a curbside order, although they can also be placed by calling 403-887-3982.
Curbside orders can be placed Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with no service on the weekends or stat holidays.
Along with launching the service the store had partnered with the Fire Department to do deliveries four days a week. The partnership will be continuing and is limited to seniors and people with mobility issues.