Weis Moves Up Store Shipments to Help SNAP Recipients, Citing Government Shutdown

Weis Markets Inc. is moving up store shipments of high-demand items bought by customers who use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to purchase their groceries. Because of the partial government shutdown, SNAP recipients in the grocer’s seven-state Mid-Atlantic footprint will receiving their SNAP benefits beginning Thursday, Jan. 17, roughly consistent with the rest of the country.

 “As a result of the shutdown, customers who use SNAP to purchase their groceries will receive their February benefits this week — essentially two to three weeks ahead of schedule,” noted Weis COO Kurt Schertle. “To meet this early demand, we have moved up our delivery schedules to ensure that we are in stock for our customers. We are doubly prepared for this increase in demand due to predictions of snow in many of our markets.”

Added Schertle: "As a company that supplies its own stores and operates its own dairy, our procurement and distribution teams are able to respond quickly and adjust to meet this early demand."

Sunbury, Pa.-based Weis operates 203 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York West Virginia and Virginia. The company is No. 27 on Progressive Grocer’s 2018 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.

Other companies addressing the impact of the shutdown include the Kraft Heinz Co., which opened a grocery store pop-up for federal workers in Washington, D.C.; independent grocer Jackson Whole Grocer, based in Wyoming, which has extended a no-interest line of credit and offered a 10 percent discount for affected employees; and the Warfield IGA, in Warfield, Ky., which has also begun extending credit to federal workers.