Student-run website allows shoppers to check Seattle grocery store crowds, capacity levels from home

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One-way aisles, mandatory face coverings and social distancing bubbles have become the norm in Seattle's grocery stores amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but avoiding large crowds at peak times can still be a struggle for many looking to shop for essential goods.

Luckily, a new service has launched that will allow residents to check how busy their neighborhood grocery store is without even leaving their house.

GrocerCheck is a free service that shows visitors a map of local grocery stores with color-coded bubbles to represent crowd density and store capacity levels. The website analyzes location data from Google servers to show real-time data and weekly crowd averages for each grocery store, allowing users to make an informed decision about shopping times to effectively social distance.

Originally developed in Vancouver, B.C., the nonprofit service has been working to expand coverage to other regions such as Victoria, B.C. and Toronto, ON. Seattle is the first city in the U.S. to receive coverage by the website.

In addition to stores within city limits, the website is also collecting data for other Puget Sound cities such as Sammamish and Bothell to help people avoid large crowds while shopping.

Perhaps the most incredible thing about the website is that it was created by high school students and remains a completely student-run operation.

"I think GrocerCheck will truly be beneficial to shoppers conscious about their health. For me, I have been using GrocerCheck every time I need groceries, and it has helped me make informed decisions about where to shop so I can social distance more effectively," says Andy Liang, one of GrocerCheck’s co-founder’s and a Grade 11 student at Eric Hamber Secondary School in Vancouver, BC.

The website is currently working on expansions for cities down the West Coast, and also plans to create pages for other COVID-19 hotspots such as New York City.

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