PENFIELD, N.Y. — Visit any grocery store this time last year, and the toilet paper aisle, among many others, would’ve been empty.

“It wasn’t a snow storm, it wasn’t like a power outage,” Wegmans store manager Wendy Gallucchi said. “This was a pandemic that was on our doorstep."

Gallucchi says for her employees, it was all hands on deck.

“I would have people from the kitchen out in the parking lot getting carts and clearing out the parking lot because everyone else was on register,” Gallucchi said.

And she’s so proud of how her team pulled together for the community.

“It gives me back goosebumps,” Gallucchi said. “I mean, to be honest, it gives me goosebumps to look back and think about how incredible our folks were with giving that servant leadership back.”

Now a year later, and products and customers are mostly back to normal at Wegmans. But a lot of changes were made that will likely be around for a while – like the stores closing at midnight instead of remaining open 24/7.

“Closing at midnight really allows us to do extra cleaning,” Gallucchi said. “It allows our overnight teams to staff.”

There was also a big boom in e-commerce services like self-checkout, curbside pickup, and delivery.

“It was huge how many customers opted for that service, and it continues,” Gallucchi said.

Gallucchi says in the future there is no doubt Wegmans will continue playing a big role in combatting the pandemic too.

“What we look forward to is the vaccination that has started at all our Wegmans here in Rochester, that folks are able to get the vaccine so we can be a part of the solution,” Gallucchi said.