City Market’s curbside pickup wasn’t new in 2020. According to spokesperson Jessica Trowbridge, the grocer’s service launched in Dillon in 2018. The service seemed to take off immediately, but it was during the pandemic when demand for curbside pickup increased exponentially.

“It did well, but then when the pandemic hit, it more than doubled,” store manager Marc Ofsowitz said.

It works like this: Customers choose their preferred store location on CityMarket.com or via the app. Shopping is done on either platform, and once finished, customers select a pickup date and time and pay online.

An associate shops for the order once it is placed. When it’s time for pickup, customers park in designated spaces in the store’s lot and call the number on a nearby sign to let an associate know they’ve arrived. An associate then brings their order out and loads it into the shopper’s car.

Ofsowitz said his team worked extra hours to fill an increased demand for the service during the height of the pandemic. Usually, associates would come in at around 4 a.m. to begin fulfilling orders, but when social distancing was in place, associates would begin filling orders at 2 a.m. or even midnight.

Their work isn’t going unnoticed, either. Ofsowitz said there were times that supply-chain issues made it difficult to get items in the store, and certain orders had to be tweaked or altered as a result. Nevertheless, Ofsowitz said his team continually receives high remarks and praise from happy customers.

Trowbridge said when City Market was beginning to launch this service, it was doing so as a way to appeal to new shopping habits.

“Our customers continually tell us they want multiple ways to shop to make their lives easier,” she said. “Pickup is one of those solutions, giving the customer options in when and how they shop.”

City Market has locations in Dillon, 300 Dillon Ridge Road, and Breckenridge, 440 N. Park Ave.

This story previously published in the Best of Summit guide. See complete results at SummitDaily.com/bestofsummit.