There have been many items that have taken a hit during the coronavirus pandemic, and one that is not often considered is the salad bar found in many grocery stores. After one grocery store was forced to close their salad bar, the employees put their heads together and decided to create an alcohol display in the area.
The store director of Dierbergs Markets’ Manchester, Missouri location, Rick Rodemacher, said: “We had originally put out other fresh foods, but it didn’t go over so well because everyone’s been stressed out.” He continued, “A group of the employees were talking and we thought we could make good use of the empty space and make people smile if we swapped out the salad bar for one that serves alcohol.”
My grocery store has replaced the salad in the salad bar with…. liquor. pic.twitter.com/eGemUkvbj8
— Emily A. (@emzorbit) May 19, 2020
You will find miniature bottles of craft beer in the display, along with the salad bar sign, with the word “salad” crossed out. They have said that many are saying that it is a good idea and they are “getting a kick out of it.”
It may have started out as a joke but now it has turned into something you are seeing nationwide. After the idea was discovered by other store managers, many of the other 24 Dierbergs locations are doing something similar with their traditional salad bar. It includes creating cereal bars and Tiki bars. Now that pictures and videos are showing up online, they are going viral. Videos have even shown up on TikTok.
“At first we were worried that it wouldn’t come across the right way, but it’s been really well received,” said Rodemacher to NBC News. “The sales are not nearly what the salad bar sales were, but bringing a smile to people’s face is worth it.”