One pandemic-era policy is being quietly removed from Trader Joe’s locations. The grocery store chain confirmed that it is eliminating “senior hours” at stores across the country.
“We continue to offer senior hours in areas where it’s mandated. Anyone in need of special accommodations can always speak to their store for assistance,” Trader Joe’s spokesperson Kenya Friend-Daniel told USA Today in an email.
Like many other grocery stores, Trader Joe’s designated specific hours to allow seniors aged 60 and older — and other at-risk customers and customers with disabilities — to shop without crowds and limit their COVID-19 exposure. The grocer reserved the first hour of its day for this purpose.
The “senior hours” occurred daily before they were reduced to just two days a week, “with some variations,” USA Today reported.
A survey of Bay Area locations show that senior hours have already been eliminated at most, if not all, local locations. By contrast, a number of senior hours still exist two days a week in Southern California, including at its Hollywood, Echo Park, and Pasadena locations.
The discovery comes on the heels of the news that Trader Joe’s has halved its “thank you” pay for hourly employees from $4 to $2. The grocer had increased the amount to $4 for a span of three months, before making the decision to revert to the original pay bump of an extra $2 an hour as of May 1.
The “thank you” pay was first instituted in 2020 after the Trader Joe’s Union Coalition petitioned for hazard pay and guaranteed wages in the event of store closures.
