Kim Fundingsland/MDN Businesses at smaller communities throughout the state, such as Krause’s SuperValu in Garrison, were among the many who had to make adjustments in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

GARRISON – The coronavirus pandemic didn’t restrict itself to city limits or county lines. It was evident all across North Dakota, in communities large and small and place in between.

Krause’s SuperValu has a store here and locations in Hazen and Washburn. All three stores were essential to supplying customers with groceries and other products, pandemic or not. While stores in the state’s larger cities, such as Minot and Bismarck, had a flurry of customers purchasing many items during the early phase of the pandemic, so too did stores in smaller communities. Krause’s SuperValu in Garrison was no exception.

“Remember the hysteria, the run on toilet paper?” asked Shannon Staehr, store manager. “I don’t think I ran out at all. We have a warehouse back of the store and I had several pallets of toilet paper. I fared pretty well!”

There were numerous challenges that had to be overcome as consumers kept the pressure on grocers and other stores, especially if certain products weren’t available close to home.

“I had shoppers from Minot because Minot stores were wiped out and our Washburn store was busy with Bismarck shoppers,” said Staehr.

Some commodity items became hard to find early on in the pandemic. Many of them were sold off on world markets with no more product to replenish store shelves. Demand for groceries and other items rose rapidly as more and more people determined that staying at home as much as possible was their best defense against contacting coronavirus. Lately, says Staehr, product supply has improved.

“It’s okay now, not near like it was at the height of COVID,” remarked Staehr. “It’s a lot better than it was.”

One of the problems that led to supply shortages of certain items was that some production plants were forced to close due to COVID outbreaks among employees. Quite naturally, employee exposure to COVID and the resulting loss of necessary workers, was a concern to anyone in retail, especially in an essential business such as groceries.

“We were very lucky,” said Staehr. “We only had two people in store that tested positive.”

As a precaution against COVID Krause’s in Garrison dedicated one employee to do nothing but clean and sanitize surfaces throughout the store.

“All she does is wiping stuff down, constantly,” explained Staehr. “From the very beginning we were wiping everything down – coolers, carts, handrails, any flat surface. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to keep employees and customers safe.”

Looking ahead as the pandemic appears to be lessening in severity and more and more of the population receives anti-COVID vaccine, some changes brought about by the pandemic are likely to become permanent.

“I think plexiglass guards will always be up there,” said Staehr. “As for masks, I don’t know for sure. It’s a personal choice now. We required them much longer than what was mandated by the state and a lot of my cashiers still wear them.”