LAKEWOOD, Colo., March 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In a letter from the Isely family, Natural Grocers announced that effective immediately all 157 Natural Grocers stores will be closing at 7:35 p.m. so that good4u Crews can restock and thoroughly clean their stores. All stores will open at their normal posted times. These new closing hours will remain in effect until further notice.

Natural Grocers was founded by Margaret and Philip Isely in 1955 to help improve the health and wellbeing of our communities and help all families to thrive. Today, the Isely family believes that everyone deserves to have access to fresh, affordable high-quality foods, household essentials and supplements, especially in times of uncertainty. To help support the communities it serves, Natural Grocers continues to focus on regularly cleaning the most frequently touched surfaces in its stores, and the good4u Crews are working to keep shelves stocked with household essentials, supplements and healthy foods.

The complete letter from the Isely family with additional updates regarding the Coronavirus is below and available at www.natrualgrocers.com.

To locate the closest Natural Grocers store, visit the store directory. For customers who may be feeling ill, home delivery is available at most of Natural Grocers locations through Instacart.

A Few More Updates Regarding the Coronavirus

Every day brings in new information about the coronavirus and steps to take to help mitigate its spread. We understand that uncertainty about what will happen next and concern for our loved ones are creating worry and some fear. We're here for our customers and communities when you need us the most with open stores and caring service. We believe that everyone deserves to have access to fresh, affordable high-quality foods, household essentials and supplements, especially in times of uncertainty. To help support you, we continue to focus on regularly cleaning the most frequently touched surfaces in our stores, and our good4u Crews are working to keep our shelves stocked with household essentials, supplements and healthy foods.

Below are some more updates regarding other steps we are taking:

• Effective immediately, we will be closing all our stores at 7:35 p.m. so that we can restock and thoroughly clean. All stores will open at their normal posted times.
• We are requesting that customers purchase only what they need and do not hoard products. This will help support the health and wellbeing of our communities. During times of community-spread illness, it is critical for our communal health that all people can find the products they need to support their health and the health of their families. This is not possible if a few people purchase more than they need.
• Out of an abundance of caution, we have cancelled all in-store nutrition education classes and recipe demos through the end of March.
• We have cancelled all sampling of products, except for prepackaged samples.
• We have closed our on-tap Kombucha stations through the end of March.
• We have removed all testers and will replace with new ones once the pandemic has abated.

As a reminder for customers who may be feeling ill, home delivery is available at most of our stores through Instacart.

Commitment to our good4u Crew is one of our Five Founding Principles. During these uncertain times, we are continuing to focus on implementing new ways we can support our good4u Crew, so that they can take care of themselves and their families. We are providing them with daily, free immune supporting supplements, at their discretion. We are working on a process to help ensure our Crews can find the products they need when they have time to shop by allowing them to request that we hold a few essential items for them. We have expanded our Paid Time Off policies to ensure that if a Crew member is ill, they can take time away from work. In addition to providing our Crew with paid sick leave via our Paid Time Off policy, we will also be providing up to 2 weeks of paid leave to all Crew (both full-time and part-time) if they are diagnosed with COVID-19 or if they are placed under mandatory quarantine by public health authorities. If a Crew member is unable to return to work after that, additional pay replacement may be provided for up to an additional 12 weeks under our short-term disability benefit. Additionally, we have never penalized Crew for calling out sick and we're encouraging Crew to stay home if they are ill.

Our Crew is working diligently to make sure that the products you want are available when you need them. Fear and worry over the pandemic are driving unprecedented demand for all grocery items, especially for cleaning products, supplements, pantry stock-up items, toilet paper and healthy foods, and causing us to have empty shelves at times. We are working to get product to our stores and up onto our shelves as quickly as possible.

Our company was founded to help improve the health and wellbeing of our communities and help all our families to thrive. We are working hard to take care of our Crew and to keep our stores clean, stocked and open so that we can be there for you and your family.

The Isely Family

SOURCE Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc.