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By M. PAUL JACKSON mjackson@leader.net
Wednesday, February 02, 2000 Page: 1A
WILKES-BARRE – It’s about 3 on a cold Tuesday afternoon, and Robert
Chambers has errands to run.
Chambers, an employee of Leggieri’s Market in Wilkes-Barre, is responsible
for delivering food and groceries to hundreds of area customers. Many of the
grocery’s customers are senior citizens, and the regular, friendly visits can
provide a lifeline to those trapped inside by the cold.
Tuesday was no different.
On snowy days, Chambers estimated, he makes about 15 deliveries a day. By
the middle of the afternoon, he made about eight deliveries.
“It’s pretty nice,” said Chambers, a Kentucky native living in
Wilkes-Barre. “A lot of people are really good to you.”
The grocery isn’t the only business that’s seeing more business because of
the temperature.
Snowy weather has sent more and more people to the telephone to call for
home deliveries. Pizza parlors, pharmacies and groceries have all reported
more calls.
“We have to be personal with the people,” said Chuck Milazzo, owner of
Marlino’s Pharmacy in Wilkes-Barre. “That’s one of the mainstays of the
independent pharmacies.”
Forced indoors by the winter weather, many senior citizens are doing their
shopping over the phone, and are turning to small markets such as Leggieri’s.
The business takes the phone orders, packages the goods and drives them to
customers as far away as Nanticoke and Plymouth, said co-owner Joe Leggieri.
“The worse the weather, the more the delivery.”
During the summer, the grocery averages 40 to 50 orders a day, he said. In
the winter, that number jumps to a high of 70 orders a day – a $15,000-a-week
increase.
And, many stores don’t charge extra for delivery.
Harrold’s Pharmacy has delivered prescription and over-the-counter
medications to its customers for 55 years, and sees an increase in orders each
winter.
“We are so busy now. It’s unbelievable,” said owner Bruce Lefkowitz.
Lefkowitz could not say how much business has increased, but said “it
seems like a lot. More people are finding that we deliver every day.”
About four cars deliver the medication each day, Lefkowitz said, and
Leggieri relies on about six vehicles to deliver its goods.
For some smaller businesses, the home delivery service is one way to stay
competitive with larger, national chain stores.
None of the three CVS pharmacies in the city delivers prescription
medications every day. The CVS pharmacy on Public Square delivers on Tuesdays
and Thursdays. And neither the BiLo Supermarket on South Main Street nor
Wegmans in Wilkes-Barre Township delivers.
Although the smaller businesses do provide the service, for the drivers, it
comes with a price.
Winter means more business, but it also means coping with parking, traffic
and snow problems. Chambers lost control of his van during an ice storm on
Wilkes-Barre Boulevard last year, he said.
“I wasn’t used to that,” Chambers said.