Woolworths expands Quiet Hour

Most Woolworths stores on the Central Coast will expand their low-sensory Quiet Hour to five days a week.

The experience is designed to reduce anxiety and sensory stress for customers with specific needs, with stores lowering lights, turning down music or radio, turning off beeps at the registers and buzzers on bakery ovens and chicken cookers.

The Quiet Hour will now take place every Monday to Friday between 10.30am and 11.30am.

The initiative was developed in consultation with disability service provider Life Without Barriers and launched in 2019 one day a week to meet the need in the community for a low-sensory shopping experience.

Since then, it has rolled out to more than 900 stores across Australia, providing customers with a less stressful shopping experience and increasing their independence.

Woolworths Director of Stores Jeanette Fenske said the company continued to receive positive feedback from customers on the initiative.

“Our teams take great pride in ensuring the stores are quieter and less stressful for customers during this time,” she said.

“Quiet Hour is now an integral part of how we aim to assist independence in our stores, in addition to the opportunity provided by Direct to Boot and delivery options for many customers.

“The expansion of Quiet Hour to five days a week has been trialled over busy shopping periods such as Christmas, and we are proud to now be able to meet customer needs.”

Life Without Barriers Chief Executive Claire Robbs said the expansion of the initiative was as active response to different needs of many  people in the community.

“Life Without Barriers has been delighted with Woolworths’ leadership to give people more options to do their shopping in store and increase their independence in an environment that is not stressful and overwhelming to them,” she said.

Quiet Hour runs from 10.30-11.30am every Monday to Friday in most stores nationally.

Other measures in place during this time include: clearing store entries; removing roll cages from the shop floor; and stopping all PA announcements (excluding cases of emergency).