Penn Hills Shop 'n Save reopens with new hours after 6-day closure

A Shop ‘n Save store in Penn Hills has reopened with updated hours after closing for six days when four of its employees tested positive for coronavirus.

The store, located at 2820 Universal Road, reopened with shortened hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on July 11, according to an announcement on the company’s Facebook page.

“Throughout the last week, we’ve thoroughly sanitized the entire store in compliance with (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines, followed employee contact tracing procedures, reinforced all current safety measures to protect patrons in store and asked any employee who may have been in contact with confirmed cases to receive testing,” said Greg Hartley, the store’s owner, in a prepared statement.

Hartley said the store installed additional plexiglass dividers at registers. The store had already installed some of the dividers in April. He said employees also sanitized packaging, donated food set to expire to the Penn Hills Service Association and restocked the store with fresh products.

Employees scheduled to work during the closure were paid for the shifts they were not able to work, Hartley said.

All employees are now required to undergo daily temperature checks, as well as continue sanitation routines and mask requirements.

“Employees who wish to return to work after recovering from covid-19 are welcome to do so as long as they provide a physician’s release granting permission,” he said.

The update comes less than a week after the grocery store closed its doors to customers after four employees tested positive for covid-19. At the time, Hartley said the decision was made “out of an abandance of caution” and to allow time for thorough cleaning and contact tracing.

Store officials said employees who tested positive have been quarantined at home and will remain off work for at least two weeks. Other employees who had close contact with them were told not to work until they got tested.

In its announcement to reopen the Penn Hills store, officials reminded customers the grocery chain offers a delivery service through Instacart. Details are on the store’s website.