Dollar General Corp. plans to dedicate the first hour of each shopping day to senior shoppers, as well as amend store operating hours beginning today. Stop & Shop made a similar announcement, setting aside 6 a.m.-7:30 a.m. at its stores starting Thursday, March 19. 

"We’re making the decision to offer this every day of the week to allow for community members in this age category to shop in a less crowded environment, which better enables social distancing," Stop & Shop said in a statement. "They’ll also be shopping prior to any other customers entering."

At Dollar General, the first hour of operations each day will be dedicated solely for the shopping needs of senior customers, who are one of the groups most vulnerable to the COVID-19 coronavirus. In keeping with the company’s mission of serving others, Dollar General wants to provide these at-risk customers with the ability to purchase the items they need and want at the beginning of each day to avoid busier and more crowded shopping periods.

"Other customers are encouraged to plan their shopping trips around this window of time to allow the most susceptible customers in our communities the ability to shop during the first hour that stores are open," Dollar General said in a statement. 

“In keeping with our mission and our ongoing commitment to serve our communities, we are dedicating the first hour of each day to seniors," Todd Vasos, chief executive officer, said in the statement. "We appreciate our customers’ understanding of our decision and request they visit our stores later in the morning to allow at-risk populations the ability to purchase the items they need at affordable prices. During these unprecedented times, Dollar General is diligently working to meet the ongoing needs of our customers and communities. We are proud to live our mission and provide customers with everyday low prices on the household essentials that are used and replenished most often.”