COVID-19 Operational Updates
This page is regularly updated with our latest information about any impacts that COVID-19 is having on our operations. Please return to this page for the most up-to-date information.
Every day, Boise Co-op locations are subjected to the Co-op’s industry-leading requirements of enhanced cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting processes.
Co-op policy requires that employees and vendors wear masks and practice social distancing. Co-op staff encourage customers to do so as well.
Please note that all changes are temporary and subject to change at any time. We are doing our best to stay up-to-date with CDC recommendations and make operational changes to best serve our staff and community and keep everyone safe. Thanks for your patience and understanding!
Update March 16, 2021
The Boise Co-op learned today that an employee at the North End store has a confirmed case of COVID-19.
This employee worked their most recent shift in the store March15. The employee has not been back to work since that day.
On March 16 the employee received positive test results and notified the Co-op management of the test results.
Health privacy laws prevent the Boise Co-op from revealing more about the patient or their condition.
The Co-op is grateful for the continued patience and support from both customers and employees.
Update March 11, 2021
The Boise Co-op learned yesterday that an employee at the North End store has a confirmed case of COVID-19.
This employee worked their most recent shift in the store March 8. The employee has not been back to work since that day.
On March 10 the employee received positive test results and notified the Co-op management of the test results.
Health privacy laws prevent the Boise Co-op from revealing more about the patient or their condition.
The Co-op is grateful for the continued patience and support from both customers and employees.
Update December 27, 2020
The Boise Co-op learned yesterday that an employee at the North End store has a confirmed case of COVID-19.
This employee worked their most recent shift in the store December 5. The employee has not been back to work since that day.
On December 25 the employee received positive test results and notified the Co-op management of the test results.
Health privacy laws prevent the Boise Co-op from revealing more about the patient or their condition.
The Co-op is grateful for the continued patience and support from both customers and employees.
Update November 24, 2020
The Boise Co-op learned today that an employee at the North End store has a confirmed case of COVID-19.
This employee worked their most recent shift in the store November 19. The employee has not been back to work since that day.
On November 24 the employee received positive test results and notified the Co-op management of the test results.
Health privacy laws prevent the Boise Co-op from revealing more about the patient or their condition.
The Co-op is grateful for the continued patience and support from both customers and employees.
Update November 20, 2020
In order to ensure enough supply for everyone, we have a limit of 2 products per customer on the following items:
Paper goods (TP, tissues, napkins, paper towels, etc)
Cleaning products and disinfectants
Sanitizers
Soaps
Pasta
Pasta sauce
Canned tomatoes
Rice
Beans
Canned soup
Baking products (flours, etc)
Immune supplements (Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc, etc)
Note: Additional items may be added at any time and not reflected on the above list
Thanks for your understanding as we work to ensure enough supply for everyone!
Update November 18, 2020
The Boise Co-op learned today that an employee at the North End store has a confirmed case of COVID-19.
This employee worked their most recent shift in the store November 15. The employee has not been back to work since that day.
On November 18 the employee received positive test results and notified the Co-op management of the test results.
Health privacy laws prevent the Boise Co-op from revealing more about the patient or their condition.
The Co-op is grateful for the continued patience and support from both customers and employees.
Update November 11, 2020
The Boise Co-op learned today that an employee at the North End store has a confirmed case of COVID-19.
This employee worked their most recent shift in the store November 6. The employee has not been back to work since that day.
On November 11 the employee received positive test results and notified the Co-op management of the test results.
Health privacy laws prevent the Boise Co-op from revealing more about the patient or their condition.
The Co-op is grateful for the continued patience and support from both customers and employees.
Update November 5, 2020
The Boise Co-op learned today that an employee at the North End store has a confirmed case of COVID-19.
This employee worked their most recent shift in the store October 25. The employee has not been back to work since that day.
On November 5 the employee received positive test results and notified the Co-op management of the test results.
Health privacy laws prevent the Boise Co-op from revealing more about the patient or their condition.
The Co-op is grateful for the continued patience and support from both customers and employees.
Update October 29, 2020
The Boise Co-op learned today that an employee at the North End store has a confirmed case of COVID-19.
This employee worked their most recent shift in the store October 25. The employee has not been back to work since that day.
On October 29 the employee received positive test results and notified the Co-op management of the test results.
Health privacy laws prevent the Boise Co-op from revealing more about the patient or their condition.
Update July 27, 2020
The Boise Co-op learned today that an employee at the Village store has a confirmed case of COVID-19.
This employee worked their most recent shift in the store July 16. The employee has not been back to work since that day.
On July 27 the employee received positive test results and notified the Co-op management of the test results.
Health privacy laws prevent the Boise Co-op from revealing more about the patient or their condition.
The Co-op is grateful for the continued patience and support from both customers and employees.
Update July 14, 2020 #2
In accordance with Central District Health’s Board of Public Health, effective July 15 we will require masks in all of our stores. This applies to our North End grocery store, Pet Shop, Wine Shop, and our Village grocery store. If you do not have a mask when you arrive, we have disposable paper masks available at our Customer Service desk.
We will continue to make exemptions for those who are unable to wear a mask for medical reasons, children under 5, and more.
Thanks for doing your part to keep our community safe!
Update July 14, 2020
The Boise Co-op learned today that an employee at the North End store has a confirmed case of COVID-19.
This employee worked their most recent shift in the store July 6. The employee has not been back to work since that day.
On July 14 the employee received positive test results and notified the Co-op management of the test results.
Health privacy laws prevent the Boise Co-op from revealing more about the patient or their condition.
The Co-op is grateful for the continued patience and support from both customers and employees.
Update July 3, 2020
In accordance with Mayor McLean’s public health order, effective July 4 we will require masks in our Boise stores. This applies to our North End grocery store, Pet Shop, and Wine Shop. If you do not have a mask when you arrive, we have disposable paper masks available at our Customer Service desk.
Also effective July 4, we will require masks to be worn at our Village location from 8-9 am, our shopping hour reserved for 60+ and the immunocompromised.
You can learn more about the public health order, including those who are exempt, here.
Thanks for doing your part to keep our community safe!
Update July 2, 2020
The Boise Co-op learned today that an employee at the North End store has a confirmed case of COVID-19.
This employee worked their most recent shift in the store June 16. The employee has not been back to work since that day.
On June 30 the employee received positive test results and notified the Co-op management of the test results.
Health privacy laws prevent the Boise Co-op from revealing more about the patient or their condition.
The Co-op is grateful for the continued patience and support from both customers and employees.
Update July 1, 2020
The Boise Co-op learned late yesterday that an employee at the North End store has a confirmed case of COVID-19.
This employee worked their most recent shift in the store June 20. The employee has not been back to work since that day.
On June 30 the employee received positive test results and notified the Co-op management of the test results.
Health privacy laws prevent the Boise Co-op from revealing more about the patient or their condition.
The Co-op is grateful for the continued patience and support from both customers and employees.
Update June 16, 2020
The Boise Co-op learned today that an employee at the North End store has a confirmed case of COVID-19.
This employee worked their most recent shift in the store June 9. This shift was short, 5 hours in length.
The employee has not been back to work since that day.
During their time away from the Co-op, the employee began to feel ill and sought testing for COVID19.
On June 16 the employee received positive test results and notified the Co-op leadership of the test results.
Health privacy laws prevent the Boise Co-op from revealing more about the patient or their condition. The Boise Co-op management met individually with any and all employees who may have had close contact with the employee.
The Boise Co-op remains focused first and foremost on the health and safety of staff and the community.
Since the day the employee in question was last in the store, both Boise Co-op locations have been subjected to the Co-op’s industry-leading requirements of enhanced cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting processes.
Thanks to the Co-op’s aggressive protocols, the stores will remain open. Staff will continue to follow these processes in every department in each store.
Co-op policy requires that employees and vendors wear masks. Co-op staff encourage customers to do so as well. Store leaders have reaffirmed that all employees must wash their hands, continue following our rigorous disinfecting processes, wear face coverings while inside the store, and to practice social distancing.
Employees have also been reminded that if they develop a fever and demonstrate symptoms of respiratory illness such as a cough or shortness of breath, to stay home and call their healthcare provider right away.
The Co-op is grateful for the continued patience and support from both customers and employees.
Update May 11, 2020
Expanded grocery store hours:
North End hours 8 am - 10 pm daily (with 7-8 am reserved for at-risk shoppers)
Village hours 9 am - 9 pm daily (with 8-9 am reserved for at-risk shoppers)
Online ordering for curbside pickup is underway with invitations sent to members with email addresses on file. Beginning Monday, May 18 this program will be available to everyone.
Update April 28, 2020
Beginning Monday, May 4th our Pet Shop will reopen for business
Hours will be 10 am to 7pm every day
Limit of 3 customers in the store at a time
Beginning Monday, May 11th our Grocery Stores will expand their hours
North End hours expand to 7 am to 10 pm daily, with 7-8 am hour reserved for at-risk shoppers
Village hours expand to 8 am to 9 pm daily, with 8-9 am hour reserved for at-risk shoppers
At this point, all Co-Owners with current email addresses on file should have received an invitation to try out our new online ordering for curbside pickup. We will be rolling it out to all Co-Owners by early next week!
Update April 6, 2020
We are hard at work getting online ordering up and running for curbside pickup! Stay tuned for more details. In the meantime, we are continuing to monitor CDC guidelines to keep our staff and community as safe as possible. Here are some of the most recent changes we’ve made:
Requiring all Co-op employees and vendors to wear masks while working
Posted social distancing signage around our stores to encourage social distancing
Installed plexiglass barriers at our registers
What we are asking customers to do:
When possible, please limit your shopping to one person
Please practice social distancing in our stores and stay at least 6 feet away from others
Please only touch the products you intend to purchase
We strongly encourage customers to wear masks when shopping, based on CDC recommendations
Update March 20, 2020
We are listening! We received a lot of feedback asking to extend our 8-9 am shopping hour to pregnant and other high-risk customers. We are starting this practice on Saturday, March 21. See below.
8 am to 9 am daily is reserved for customers who are 60 or older, pregnant or otherwise at high risk for infection. If you do not fall into any of these categories, we invite you to shop with us starting at 9 a.m. each day.
Grocery stores remain 9 am to 8 pm through the end of April
Discontinuing all bring-your-own-container programs, including in our Bulk and Wellness departments. This falls in line with our earlier policy of disallowing the use of reusable shopping bags and reusable drink containers at our beverage bar
Removing self-service bulk teas and spices; if you can’t find what you need we have staff who can help!
Prepackaging ready-to-eat foods in our bulk department
Update March 17, 2020
Beginning Thursday, March 19th we are introducing a shopping hour exclusively for our 60+ community, 7 days a week from 8 am to 9 am. Please bring ID for age verification.^
Daily grocery store hours change to 9am to 8pm daily (to allow for 8-9 am shopping for 60+ community)
We are no longer able to accept special orders or hold product for our customers
Our Uncorked! Wine Bar is closed until further notice
Beginning Thursday, March 18th our North End Pet Shop is closed and we are relocating our most popular pet items to the cafe area of the grocery store
We are reducing services in the Deli in order to keep our shelves stocked with Grab n Go items; all made-to-order services are temporarily discontinued but we are making lots of food for our community!
We implemented a No Returns policy for all products in our stores*
We started a Round Up program at our registers for the Idaho Foodbank. They turn every $1 donated into 5 meals for hungry Idahoans. Please consider rounding up your purchase the next time you shop. Want to help now? Donate online today.
Thanks for your patience and understanding as we work to keep our staff safe and our community fed! We’re all in this together.
^ At this time we are only allowing customers 60+ to take advantage of this shopping time. We are continuing conversations around how to extend this to other high-risk people in our community and will have an update in the next couple of days. Thanks for your patience and understanding as we work to navigate these unprecedented times.
*The No Returns policy is being implemented to keep our staff from any product that could potentially be contaminated with COVID-19. This is also why we are temporarily disallowing the use of reusable shopping bags in our stores.
Update March 15, 2020
As your community hub, we are taking steps to ensure our staff and customers are safe as coronavirus continues to spread throughout the country. Our leadership team is closely monitoring the situation and staying up-to-date on recommendations from the CDC and our local health department, CDHD. Our focus is on keeping our staff and community safe and our shelves stocked.
What We Are Doing for Our Staff and Community
Increasing frequency of cleaning and sanitizing common areas like door handles, handrails, carts and other common area surfaces
Installed additional hand sanitizer stations and wipes throughout our stores
Starting Monday, March 16: reducing store hours from 8 am to 8 pm through the end of April to allow our staff time to restock shelves
Prioritizing stocking our shelves with staple goods
Limiting purchase quantities on certain key items like hand sanitizers, cleaning products, paper goods, and more
We are reminding employees to be vigilant about hand washing and asking anyone with cold and flu symptoms to stay home
Discontinuing all product demos
Postponing all store events that are scheduled through the end of April. This includes cancelling private events and gatherings in our classroom space at the Village.
Temporarily discontinuing the use of reusable shopping bags and reusable drink containers at our beverage bar, as well as all self-service Deli items
What We Are Asking Our Community To Do
Stay home if you are symptomatic
Practice good hygiene and handwashing practices
Practice social distancing when possible
Considering ordering groceries from us online via Instacart
Thanks for your patience and understanding as we work to keep our staff safe and our community fed! We’re all in this together.