On Monday, March 23 at 6:00 pm, City of St. Louis Mayor, Lyda Krewson, and St. Louis County Executive, Dr. Sam Page, initiated “Shelter at Home” orders for all residents of St. Louis City and St. Louis County. These orders dictated that any “Non-Essential Businesses” must close their doors and cease operations. In turn, this meant that companies can only run if they are deemed “Essential” and could continue to operate, business as usual.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, our government leadership has allowed community spread to continue at retail/grocery stores that have been called “essential”. While personal gatherings of more than 10 people are being policed by our neighbors and local leaders, grocery/retail stores allow for dozens of people to gather without regard for safety. Although Governor Parson’s statewide “Stay at Home” order puts a limit on the amount of people allowed in a store at a time, where is the oversight to ensure this is happening? Once customers are allowed into the stores, there is no truly safe way for the public to shop in stores without knowing those who shopped before them weren’t sick with the coronavirus.

With the limited capacity for COVID-19 testing, we cannot with any certainty know who is and is not sick. Who Are We? Movement calls upon our local, St. Louis City and County, officials to enact policies to make all “Essential Businesses” participate in Curbside Concierge shopping. In order to truly limit community spread, we need to close all retail/grocery stores to the public and let the employees do our shopping for us.

By participating in Curbside Concierge service, this allows retail/grocery stores to operate in a manner that is safe for their employees and safe for the public. Curbside Concierge allows for traditional curbside and online ordering, while providing additional service for those unable to participate in online shopping. Curbside Concierge service requires the retail/grocery store to close their doors and have the employees shop for the public. The customer will give their list and form of payment (debit/credit, cash, ebt/snap/wic) to their Designated Shopper and wait in their car/queue area until the shopping is complete.

Having all transactions take place with limited interactions will make our stores and our communities safer. St. Louis deserves to be safe. Use your voice, call upon our local government, sign and share this petition to demand safety for our communities!

Who Are We Movement put together a video on Curbside Concierge Service