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Frequently
Asked Questions About Grocery Stores
Q: How can grocery stores make
their merchandise accessible to customers with various disabilities?
A: Customers
who use wheelchairs, crutches, or other mobility devices, customers
with limited manual dexterity, and customers who are blind or who
have limited vision tend to experience access problems in grocery
stores. For example, people who use wheelchairs often cannot move
down aisles when stock or displays are placed in the way so there
is no clear path to travel.
Moving boxes and displays that could trip a customer with a vision
impairment is a simple, common sense solution to certain access
problems that also makes access easier for other customers.
Although widening aisles where merchandise is displayed is an ideal solution
for customers who use wheelchairs, in some grocery stores it may result in a
significant loss of selling space and might, therefore, not be readily achievable.
Large grocery stores, such as supermarkets, should be able to rearrange display
racks and shelves in a way that does not result in a significant loss of selling
space.
For grocery stores housed in cramped facilities, there may be no storage alternative
for boxes placed in the aisles. If readily achievable, the store could provide
service at the door to customers who are unable to move down the aisles.
Placing lightweight items on higher shelves and heavier items on lower shelves
and offering the use of a device for reaching high items will improve the usability
of a store not only for customers with mobility impairments but also for customers
with manual impairments or customers who are short of stature. Produce bag dispensers
and number dispensers used at deli, bakery, and other food service
Counters must be mounted within easy reach of customers who use wheelchairs if
readily achievable. Otherwise, sales clerks should offer assistance in reaching
items.
Some people with disabilities cannot use shopping carts and must, instead, use
hand-held baskets. This may require them to make several trips to the check-out
counter to complete their purchases. Grocery stores should provide a temporary
storage area for items selected by people who cannot use shopping carts. Q: If
a grocery store is staffed with only a single cashier, is the cashier required
to leave the cash register to assist a customer with a disability?
A: No.
The ADA does not require a cashier to leave the register if doing
so poses a security risk.
Q: Is a grocery store required to purchase
special items for customers with disabilities?
A: No.
Grocery stores are not required to carry special products for people
with disabilities. However, if the store routinely makes special
orders of un-stocked goods for its customers and the special goods
can be obtained from a supplier with whom the store customarily
does business, the store must make special orders for customers
with disabilities, too. |
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