Storms Swamp Retailers

NEW ORLEANS — As retailers in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina braced late last week for Hurricane Hanna, they could take little comfort from the situation along the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Gustav.

Gustav hit Baton Rouge, La., particularly hard last week, knocking Associated Grocers out of commission for a couple of days before it was able to get full power restored and begin shipping orders Wednesday afternoon.

Jay Campbell, president and chief executive officer of Baton Rouge-based AG, said he expected all customers to be fully stocked by today — although stores without full power might not be able to offer their normal assortments of perishables, he added.

Another issue for most operators trying to resume normal operations last week was the shortage of personnel, many of whom evacuated the area.

One independent operator — Zuppardo's Supermarket, Metairie, La. — reopened last Wednesday with 20 employees “and a bunch of family members,” rather than the store's full complement of 120 staffers, Roy Zuppardo, vice president, told SN.

He said he's not sure when all his employees will be able to return. “We've been in touch with 90% of them, including one who evacuated to Kentucky because that was the closest place he could find a hotel room. But there's no sense for some of them to come back right away if their homes are without power,” he explained.

For Winn-Dixie, Jacksonville, Fla., “Part of the problem of getting stores reopened is getting people back to the city so they can come back to work,” a spokesman said.

Rouses Supermarkets, Thibodaux, La., sent an email to employees Thursday morning that said, “We are in ‘all hands on deck’ mode, trying to get our stores open for the community, and [we] need you to report to work as soon as possible. It is very important for the community that we are able to reopen our stores as quickly as we can.

“If your store is not open, there are still people working in your store. Go to your store, and if they need you to work at a nearby store that is open, they will send you that way.”

Extensive roof damage at two locations resulted in severe product losses, Donald Rouse, president and chief executive officer, told SN, and he said he's not sure when stores might reopen.

Rouse said the company worked closely with its supplier, C&S Wholesale Grocers, Keene, N.H., before the hurricane to make sure it had adequate supplies on hand.

Before Gustav hit land, those who were evacuating the area were buying snacks, sandwich meats, bread and water, Rouse said; those who opted to stay were buying canned meats, soft drinks, water, batteries, flashlights and other emergency supplies, he pointed out.

In a message to consumers Thursday from Rouses management, the company said, “Some of you may have received our weekly specials in your newspaper this morning. While we have every intention of honoring these prices, supply issues due to Hurricane Gustav have impaired our ability to fully stock our stores with all these products.”

One AG customer that was open for business before the wholesaler started shipping products last week was Casey Jones Market, a single-store operator in Gretna, La. It reopened Wednesday morning, “and we're selling what we have on hand until AG is back up,” a spokeswoman told SN.

Although much of Gustav's full force came down on the Baton Rouge area, AG's distribution center did not suffer any structural damage, and no product was lost, Campbell told SN, “because we followed inventory preservation tactics and moved frozen and refrigerated products into trailers before the storm to maintain them at their proper temperature.”

Even as shipments began moving out on Wednesday, AG was not sure how much of its store base would be able to resume normal operations, Campbell said — because of spotty communications, continuing power outages in some areas or store damage, he explained.

Winn-Dixie operates 54 stores in Louisiana, of which 30 had reopened by midweek — all operating under full power and selling a complete assortment of product, the company said.

Power may not be restored in some parts of the state for another four to six weeks, a spokesman noted, “but Winn-Dixie will run stores on generator power as long we have to,” adding that the chain expected to have virtually all stores back in business by the end of the week.

Wal-Mart Stores, Bentonville, Ark., operates 128 Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores in the hurricane area, of which 86 had reopened by midweek. “Power outages or intermittent power remain an obstacle to reopening in some areas,” the company said in a prepared statement.

Besides assessing damage to its store base, the company said it wanted to ensure “that we have associates available to serve our customers well.”

Wal-Mart said it is providing disaster pay to employees who work in facilities that are closed, giving them the option to receive a $250 cash advance on paychecks that can be picked up at any Wal-Mart store in the U.S. if they are out of town.

The company said it is also providing pharmacy services for evacuees at 18 emergency centers — either by picking up prescriptions at those locations, filling them and delivering them back to the centers; or by setting up mobile pharmacies in Dallas, Monroe, La., and Jackson, Miss.

Wal-Mart also said it is making preparations for the potential impact of Hanna along the Atlantic coast, where the company operates 200 stores. The company said it is following its normal course of operations in anticipation of natural disasters, which includes stockpiling merchandise at strategically located distribution centers.

Zuppardo's experienced some roof damage, Roy Zuppardo said, “but as soon as full power was restored, we reopened.”

Customers were lined up outside the store throughout the day, he said — until a city-imposed curfew forced the store to close at 6 p.m., he noted — “and once the store was full of customers, we were letting a few people in at a time. But people were very understanding and patient, and we didn't have a single complaint from anyone.”

Although Zuppardo's is an AG customer, it buys milk, bread, water and produce from outside vendors and was able to offer almost a full product selection, he said, including some meats and chilled products, which had been stored in generator-powered freezers and coolers while the store was shut down.