JONES Retail Group has joined competitors Coles and Woolworths in opening a delivery service for customers of its Redlands IGA stores.
General manager David Kindt said demand for the service had skyrocketed since it was announced earlier this week, with orders doubling by the day.
The company has set up a call centre at their flagship IGA store in Mount Cotton, allowing customers to phone in between 9am and 5pm on weekdays to place an order for next day delivery.
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Mr Kindt said the service had proven invaluable for elderly people on the islands who were at most risk of contracting COVID-19.
"We were finding a lot of elderly and in need customers that were not able to find another solution to get stock into their homes," he said.
"We were getting countless desperate communications asking for assistance with it.
"Woolworths and Coles have obviously serviced those needs quite well but they are really struggling at the moment to keep up and get to all those people.
"On the bay islands there has been incredible demand for some of the elderly on some of the smaller islands who are unable to get groceries."
Extra staff have been taken on at the Mount Cotton store to assist with an influx of calls and there could be more job opportunities on the way.
Mr Kindt said the service was gaining a lot of momentum with locals despite having only started a few days ago.
"The orders each day are doubling on the previous day. People are so thankful to be able to get the basic things that they need brought to them," he said.
"We have put on about six or seven people to assist with the process and that could potentially grow in the coming days."
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