Superstores hiring as demand to fill online orders soars amid COVID-19

The four Atlantic Superstores on P.E.I. are each looking to hire 10 to 15 new employees to keep up with increased demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Loblaw has two Atlantic Superstores in Charlottetown, one in Summerside and one in Montague. The No Frills store in Stratford is also hiring, said Mark Boudreau, director of corporate affairs for Loblaw in Atlantic Canada.

"We've had a number of colleagues in our stores who, for some reason or another, won't be able to come into work, whether they can't find daycare or they don't feel comfortable coming into work right now," he said.

"We don't want to penalize those people but at the same time we've seen definitely a change in our operations at our stores."

Boudreau said the new hires would fill in temporarily for those employees, or could potentially stay on in a permanent position or part time.

"If we have some colleagues who are hired and they want to continue, we're going to do our best to make sure that we keep those people and can continue to employ them even after this is over."

We're going to do our best to make sure that we keep those people and can continue to employ them even after this is over.— Mark Boudreau

Boudreau said online shopping — where customers place their orders on the website and pick them at the store — has "doubled or tripled" at the Charlottetown stores, and more staff is needed to meet the demand.

"We are trying to make sure that we catch up to that and we're able to deliver that service in a timely fashion," he said.

"Typically you could order and pick up groceries on the same day. Now we're running a few days behind."

Boudreau said he expects to fill most of the positions in the next few days.

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