It’s time to taste-test again. With vaccinations rolling out and the threat of COVID-19 easing in most parts of the U.S., stores are reviving the longstanding tradition of offering free samples. What’s not clear yet, is if everyone is ready to bite.
A worker prepares bread to offer as samples to shoppers in a Costco warehouse on Thursday, June 17, 2021, in Lone Tree, Colo. With vaccinations rolling out and the threat of COVID-19 easing in the U.S., stores are feeling confident enough to revive the longstanding tradition of offering free samples. For customers, sampling makes it fun to shop and discover new items, not to mention getting all the freebies.
When the pandemic was declared in March 2020, retailers worried about the potential spread of the coronavirus so they cut off free sampling of everything from food to makeup to toys. But now with vaccinations rolling out and the threat of COVID-19 easing in the U.S., stores like Costco are feeling confident enough to revive the longstanding tradition.
Jake Tavello, a senior vice president at Stew Leonard’s, said promoting new items had been challenging without sampling, a tradition started by his grandfather who founded the regional grocery chain in 1969. Sales of a new item pink glow pineapple were OK this past spring, for example, but have tripled since demonstrations were reintroduced.
At Costco, masked workers prepare the hot and cold samples behind plexiglass counters and distribute to its members one at a time. Stew Leonard’s also brought back hot samples with similar safety measures. As for makeup testing, Gostin said it’s “much safer and wiser” to use samples that are fully packaged. And with letting kids play with toys, frequent sanitizing of objects is recommended to contain viruses like influenza, which unlike COVID-19 can be easily spread through touching contaminated surfaces.