PHILADELPHIA: Katherine Vero from Newcastle says her elderly mum Jo used to love to go shopping, but after she developed dementia, she says the weekly shop became ‘increasingly difficult and stressful’ for both of them.
‘But I didn’t want her to stop going out and become isolated,’ she explains. ‘I wondered if there was a way to help us enjoy shopping.’
After her mum passed away, Katherine came up with the idea of ‘slow shopping’ – an afternoon once a week when elderly and vulnerable customers can take a little longer over their shop.
The idea is now being trialled by one Sainsbury’s store in Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, every Tuesday from 1pm to 3pm.
During this time, people who want to use the service are greeted at the entrance to the store, where a Sainsbury’s member of staff is on hand to assist customers with their shopping.
Chairs are put out at the end of aisles to enable people who struggle to stand all the way round the shop to have a rest.
The store also mans two helpdesks where they offer samples of favourite products such as fruit, ginger biscuits and Victoria sponge.
Scott McMahon, deputy manager of the Sainsbury’s Gosforth store said: ‘When my father developed cancer, I saw how hard he found shopping yet he still wanted to go to maintain his independence, so when Katherine approached me about trialling Slow Shopping I was keen to help.
‘I knew Sainsbury’s would want to support it too. We invest a lot of time in training colleagues in how to help customers with disabilities; so we were well placed to go the extra step of putting out chairs and manning help points, but it’s our colleagues who really make the difference.’
Katherine says she is ‘delighted’ the supermarket chain has agreed to help her trial slow shopping, adding ‘I hope other retailers will follow.’