Visiting a corner store during the pandemic? Here's one clerk's advice

There are few things you can count on as much as the neighbourhood corner store.

Even in the middle of a pandemic, Yellowknife's half dozen or so corner stores are still serving hundreds of customers a week.

Dawson Giroux-Paniloo watches over the counter at a Yellowknife Reddi-Mart every weeknight. Business hasn't slowed down.

"Even during this time, I still have my same amount of customers," he said. "Isn't a great sign."

'Why are you leaving the house?'

His message to customers? Keep it to the essentials.

"Probably one in every 15 ... people gets what we consider essential stuff," he said. "It's like, why are you leaving the house?"

Also, a trip to the corner store might have once been a family outing, but with a pandemic on, it's better to go on your own.

"When I see a big group of people, that's when I'm like, 'There should not be this many people inside one place,'" he said. "You can't be coming in with a family of six people. That's just too much."

Like workers in other industries still serving the public during the pandemic, Giroux-Paniloo is mindful of the risks involved in his job.

"Working here, I interact with maybe 10 customers in like half an hour or something like that," he said. Now, he wears a mask and gloves when it gets busy.

But he also counts himself among the lucky ones.

"I'm lucky that my schedule doesn't change because of this," he said. "I still get my steady paycheque."