A Sainsbury’s in Bath, England, was recently turned into a sign language superstore by the retail giant in support of the deaf community.
‘Signsbury’s’ became the first sign language supermarket in the UK – and the thoughtful initiative was widely praised across the nation.
To prepare themselves for the relaunch, 100 workers from the supermarket chain participated in learning the British Sign Language lessons.
During the course, the staff learned how to interact with the hearing-impaired people so as to easily handle queries from them.
The customers who didn’t know any signal other than the thumbs up were also taken care of by the program.
Large screens were installed around the store which displayed basic signs, such as how to ask for a trolley or items of daily use like milk or fruits.
The initiative, which lasted for three days, was admired by the customers.
Children were encouraged to interact in the sign language in a small competition, with the winners getting a piece of fruit from the store.
The initiative was a part of Sainsbury’s 150 Days of Community program, which aims to promote diversity and inclusivity.
The idea to make the store deaf-friendly was proposed by Paul Robertson, the store manager, and Sam Book, a deaf staff member.
Rachel Shenton, who won an Oscar for her short film ‘The Silent Child,’ was also present at the event launch.
The actress said at the launch: “This is a fantastic initiative to be involved in. It’s been brilliant to see the colleagues of Sainsbury’s be so engaged in the idea and it’s a great step towards inclusivity for the deaf community.”
“This feels like the start of something exciting and I hope it encourages more people to get involved,” added Rachel, who is also an ambassador for the National Deaf Children’s Society.
Tim Fallowfield, a Board Sponsor for Disability and Carers across Sainsbury’s, added: “We want to be the most inclusive retailer where people love to work and shop and it’s really important to us that we support both customers and colleagues with hearing difficulties to feel as comfortable as possible in our stores wherever we can.
“We’re really proud of Paul and the team at Bath who thought up this wonderful idea as part of our 150 Days of Community celebrations.”