Coronavirus: Supermarkets boom as restaurants try to survive COVID-19 outbreak

WARMINSTER, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- From a distance, it certainly seems like business as usual in Warminster, Bucks County. But that image changes when you take a closer look.

Several eateries are closed, while the rest are only accepting takeout orders.

Robert Johnson, general manager of the Perkins on York Road, says a few of his employees are cleaning and disinfecting the restaurant. He sent the rest home.

Johnson tells Action News, "Normally, right now we would be full staff, open service, and right now I got a lot of servers and cooks that are out of work right now with business being down."

Meanwhile, businesses continues to boom at supermarkets across the region.

For example, officials from the Shop Rite on Street Road say overall sales are up 75% over this time last year.

The challenge is keeping certain products in stock.

Tony Bradley, an assistant manager at the store says they are, "replenishing all the paper needs, Lysol wipes, Clorox wipes, our meats, produce, all that stuff is coming in every day but behind schedule. Our Saturday loads are just showing up today, so it puts us a little behind, but as soon as it comes out we are getting it in."

We also spoke with people here in Warminster who say it is amazing how these trying times to make you realize just how much we take for granted.

Lorraine Manna of Warminster says, "It's my daughter who has a family of six. So, I try to shop for her as well because paper products are at zero."

While Colleen Bonanni of Warminster told us, "My daughter ran out, she did get some junk food. She wasn't able to get any meats, so we are just kind of winging it."

DELIVERY SERVICES

Delivery services are also temporarily changing their policies a bit. For example, Uber Eats is getting rid of delivery fees for now, and paying restaurants on a daily basis to make sure they have cash on hand.

Also, many supermarkets, even 24-hour supermarkets, are closing between midnight and 6 a.m. to give them time to disinfect their stores and restock shelves.