Smith’s sets new limits on number of customers in stores

Smith’s Food & Drug is using infrared technology for new customer capacity restrictions in dozens of its Southern Nevada stores.

The company announced Tuesday that it will limit the number of customers in a store at any one time by half.

Under the new limitation, which takes effect Tuesday, stores will restrict the number of customers to one for every 120 square feet instead of the normal capacity of one for every 60 square feet.

The company will monitor the number of customers with its QueVision technology, which already provides a count of the number of customers entering and exiting a store.

“By leveraging QueVision, our technology system that uses infrared sensors and predictive analytics, we will be able to more efficiently support our new capacity limits, creating a safer environment for our customers and associates,” said Kenny Kimball, president of Smith’s.

The company already is encouraging employees to wear protective masks and gloves and told them to closely monitor their health and take their temperature at home before coming to work. It has begun doing temperature checks of employees at distribution centers and is expanding that to include stores.

In somes stores, the company plans to test one-way aisles to determine their effectiveness as a social distancing measure.

There are 38 Smith’s-affiliated stores in the Las Vegas Valley. Smith’s is an affiliate of Cincinnati-based Kroger Co.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.