Zanotto's Market Offers San Jose Seniors Exclusive Shopping Time During Coronavirus Sheltering
SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) -- Zanotto's Market in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose is looking out for its senior customers in a special way. They want to give this vulnerable population a designated time to shop for groceries while the store is in its cleanest state.
From 8 to 9 a.m. this morning, Zanotto's Market was open to only those who were 60 or older. The shoppers who took advantage were thankful for this store special.
The line was long during hour exclusively for senior shopping, but all was in order as people were let in one-by-one as others exited the store.
What seemed like an endless amount of groceries needing to be scanned, did not seem to faze the calm patrons.
"My mom who is a senior herself is guarding the front door," said Zanotto's Vice-President of Marketing Khadija Zanotto. "We are trying to be as nice as possible but the great thing our community really understands is these are the people we really need to take care of."
"I think that's perfect," said shopper Ana Maria Russo. "I actually think that's a great thing for people because that is the most vulnerable demographic in San Jose and they need to be protected."
"I just need to get some groceries. I haven't been able to get it on Instacart or Amazon Prime or any of the ways to get groceries so I figured I'd try this today," said shopper Renee Griggs.
One shopper praised the time arrangement and wondered why it couldn't be expanded. "Not everybody is as capable as the younger people," said shopper Gordon Patnude. "This is a good thing. But I think restricting it to an hour is kind of a little ridiculous."
Zanotto's market has stepped up before in a time of major need. Following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the store rolled out an "IOU" system for customers.
Now in 2020, it's their social media presence that is priceless, alerting people of what's available and what's not, in hopes of saving someone a needless trip to the store.
"I'm really thankful for the chance to be able to offer this and I'm grateful for my family for believing in us that we can do something that nobody else is doing," said Zanotto.
All four Zanotto's locations will be doing this for the foreseeable future. They're also delivering groceries for those who can't make it physically to the store.
For Zanotto's customers: To request deliveries or curbside pickup, email Jessica.Zanottos@icloud.com. The company is also seeking volunteer drivers to deliver to seniors and those who are immunocompromised.
