photo by: Associated Press

A shopper looks for toilet paper at a supermarket during hours open only for seniors Thursday, March 19, 2020, in North Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Story updated at 9:18 a.m. Friday

Some Lawrence grocery stores are either expanding or altering their shopping hours to reserve periods for customers considered at high risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of Thursday, senior citizens and other vulnerable customers had the option to shop first thing on certain mornings at Hy-Vee, Walmart, Dollar General and Checkers, when the stores should be the most clean and shelves should be more fully stocked.

However, one other Lawrence grocery store, The Merc Co-op, said it worried that implementing reserved hours may unintentionally put high-risk shoppers in harm’s way.

“At this moment, we believe it does not help our community to reduce hours and it, in fact, potentially increases the number of people in (the) store at any given time,” Marketing Director Valerie Taylor Richardson said. “In addition, gathering our most vulnerable shoppers into the store at the same time, seniors or immunocompromised, feels unwise — and experts are saying that same thing.”

An infectious disease doctor interviewed in The Washington Post this week said that while having shopping times for seniors is a good idea in general, it could be dangerous if not controlled, noting that stores still need to be mindful of keeping seniors 6 feet away from one another and limiting crowds to under 50 people.

Taylor Richardson said The Merc has been using shopping data to track the store’s slower hours, and the store has been sharing that information with shoppers. The store also hopes to implement curbside grocery pick-up soon.

For those wanting information about shopping hours for vulnerable customers, the Journal-World has compiled a list:

Hy-Vee

Location: 3504 Clinton Parkway

“High-risk” client shopping hour: 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., seven days a week

Hy-Vee announced Wednesday that it will reserve one hour of shopping time each day for customers considered “high-risk.” Hy-Vee defines high-risk customers as those 60 and older, expectant mothers and anyone with an underlying health condition.

The pharmacy will also extend its hours in order to serve high-risk customers during the designated morning hour.

Other customers are asked to respect this hour and limit their shopping to between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. each day.

Walmart

Locations: 550 Congressional Drive and 3300 Iowa St.

Senior customer shopping hour: Tuesdays from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m.

On Tuesdays from March 24 through April 28, Walmart will be offering a special shopping hour for customers age 60 years or older. This shopping hour will start an hour before the store opens, and the pharmacy and vision centers will also be open during that time. The two Walmarts in Lawrence open at 7 a.m., so the designated shopping hour for senior customers will begin at 6 a.m. every Tuesday.

Dollar General

Locations: 1811 W. Sixth St., 1011 N. Third St. and 1940 Haskell Ave.

Senior customer shopping hours: 7 to 9 a.m. (North Third Street), 8 to 9 a.m. (West Sixth Street, Haskell Avenue)

The first hour of operations at Dollar General locations in Lawrence will be dedicated to the shopping needs of senior customers. The North Lawrence Dollar General location will designate its first two hours of operations to senior customers, because it opens one hour earlier than the other two stores, manager Staci Church said.

Checkers

Location: 2300 Louisiana St.

Senior customer shopping hours: 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays

Checkers will be implementing designated times twice a week for senior citizens, customers with special needs and immunocompromised customers.

“We hope that other customers be mindful as this would be the safest time for the most vulnerable to shop our store, and we want to do what is best to keep all customers safe and healthy,” the locally owned grocery store said in a Facebook post Thursday afternoon.

Walgreens

Locations: 3421 W. 6th St. and 400 W. 23rd St.

Senior customer shopping hour: 8 to 9 a.m. on Tuesdays