Page 30 - BusinessWest January 6, 2021

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK 2021 >>
Retail
changed. Continued from page 28 Even in
our own offices, more and more folks are working remotely.
We are communicating more with video and vir- tual meetings. We continue to adapt and adjust. And, though I think the supermarket will continue to be the primary way people get their food and groceries, the growth of online shopping is here
to stay. In 2021, we are excited to be opening our first micro-fulfillment center, which was planned and begun before the pandemic hit but which we believe will have an ever-increasing role in the way people shop in the future.
BusinessWest: Big Y has been on a path of steady expansion over the past several years. Will this pattern continue in 2021, and how and where will this growth take place?
D’Amour: We have been pleased that, despite the pandemic, we’ve actually had an exciting year of growth. We have opened two new gas and con- venience stores, a new supermarket, completed our new Fresh & Local Distribution Center, and remodeled over 16 supermarkets. We’ve accom- plished a lot. We have two new supermarkets planned for next year, several new gas and conve- nience stores, and, as I mentioned, the opening of our online ordering and micro-fulfillment center in Chicopee.
BusinessWest: Over the course of the past several months, we have seen a number of changes when it comes to how work is done and where. How has Big Y responded to these shifts, and will some of them be permanent?
D’Amour: Obviously, in our supermarkets, dis- tribution centers, gas and convenience stores, and at Table & Vine, a physical presence is required. We very quickly realized in our physical locations that we needed to keep our employees safe, and to that end, we jumped on making sure that the appropriate cleaning procedures were in place and that PPE was available. We were one of the first retailers to install plexiglass shields at our reg- isters, among many many other things. We have made sure to accommodate not only our frontline workers, but everyone with flexible schedules, leaves of absence if required, and continuing to pay employees who had to quarantine or care for a loved one.
We have continued to provide our employees with ‘thank-you’ pay, first as an hourly bump and now through a monthly bonus which will con- tinue into the first part of 2021. We have also pro- vided a holiday bonus to all full-time, part-time, and casual employees to reward and thank them for rising to the challenges we have all faced with this pandemic.
In our offices, we have definitely moved from a company that favored in-person meetings and collaboration to embracing new technologies and remote working. Here, again, flexible schedules and accommodating employees with childcare issues, etc. has been our focus and will likely con-
“
the role of leadership was and continues to be an important linchpin in our ability to deal with the challenges of this pandemic.”
tinue. One area that has been accelerated because of the virus has been our use of virtual meetings and video communications. As our geographic territory has spread, bringing our store folks to our Store Support Center has presented more and more of a challenge. As a result of the virus, we have been forced to explore more avenues to con- nect, which have, for the most part, been effective and well-received by our employees.
BusinessWest: As the leader of a major corpora- tion, can you talk about the ways this pandemic has impacted your ability to plan long-term, or if it has?
D’Amour: The supermarket business is very dynamic, and, as such, we are always in a state of change and flux. We are also in a business where our customers give us almost instant feedback to what’s new and changing. Our leadership team gets together every year to focus on our strategies and how we are adapting and evolving as our cus- tomers are adapting and evolving. As such, we are maintaining our current course of action, and our long-term plans and strategic initiatives have not changed. Every year, there are minor course cor-
rections and adjustments, but our overall direction is the same, and that has not changed because of the pandemic.
BusinessWest: Speaking of leadership, talk about your experiences leading a company through these most challenging of times.
D’Amour: For me, first and foremost was the importance of communication. Being present, being authentic, and regularly communicating with our employees, customers, and other stake- holders was especially important early on when things were changing rapidly and coming at us
a mile a minute. While I couldn’t get out to our stores as frequently as I usually like to, being able to find other ways to connect with our stores was essential.
Our employees especially were appreciative that we were visible, even virtually, and that we were genuinely concerned. Though we did shut down our offices for all but the most essential employees, I tried to be in our offices as much as possible to show a physical presence and to con- nect with our leadership team and others that were in the building. I believe that all of these things helped to inspire confidence within our organization. We tried to push decisions down to the lowest level and trusted in our employees and our teams. We established a crisis management committee, now dubbed the pandemic response committee. As such, we were able to quickly
and effectively respond to a very fast-paced and changing dynamic.
Another area that underscored a point of focus for us this past year was in regard to redoubling our efforts regarding diversity and inclusion in
our company. While we have made progress over the years, it was clear that we needed to do more. To that end, we have refocused and engaged our efforts, developed a new employee-resource group called “Y You Belong,” and created a steering com- mittee of senior leaders and outside advisors from the community. We also conducted a half-day seminar for our leadership team with the Healing Racism Institute of Pioneer Valley to better under- stand our role in healing racism in our company and our community.
Throughout this past year, the role of leader- ship was and continues to be an important linch- pin in our ability to deal with the challenges of this pandemic. u
Throughout this past year,
Fitness
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Danny said. “We say failure is never an option for us, but for the major- ity of fitness in the United States, it is certainly an option.”
Indeed, while most fitness cen- ters say they’re hanging on, many have shut their doors permanently. The most recent capacity rollback in Massachusetts, to 25%, isn’t helping matters for an industry whose leaders have consistently maintained they’re not the problem when it comes to spreading COVID-19.
“These setbacks are crushing,” said Frank Nash, president of Massachu-
setts Independent Fitness Operators, noting that the industry’s rigid safety measures have resulted in a less than .000034% positivity rate in more than 1.3 million check-ins. “Our industry has collectively spent hundreds of thousands of dollars outfitting stu- dios with ventilation equipment, social-distancing measures, employ- ing robust cleaning procedures, and instituting contact tracing, and it’s working.”
Jessye Deane agreed. “The data shows gyms are not breeding grounds for transmission, and we’ve certainly seen that,” she said, adding that indus-
try stresses go beyond government mandates; some people simply don’t want to return yet, while others, due to economic strain, have had to cut certain things out of their household budgets, fitness memberships among them.
Yet, many gyms and fitness centers are taking lessons from the pandemic and plan to expand upon innovations introduced this year, such as virtual classes.
“We thought COVID-19 was a catastrophic event for our industry, but — although challenging — it has turned into a transformative event,”
said Kevin Mannion, vice president of Marketing at Glofox, a consulting firm for the international fitness industry. “Less than a week after most coun- tries went into lockdown, we noticed that gyms everywhere were organi- cally starting to run online classes through Zoom, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Some larger operators were able to offer classes free on their social-media channels, while at the same time developing a paid online service that could reach people the
Fitness
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30 JANUARY 6, 2021
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK 2021
BusinessWest