Stewart's Shops Assists in COVID-19 Testing Efforts

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Stewart's Shops is doing its part to fight the COVID-19 pandemic by teaming up with county governments to hand out free rapid testing kits.

On Jan. 6, the retailer offered at-home rapid testing kits in all of its Warren County, N.Y., convenience stores. The testing kits were available free of charge on a walk-in basis starting at 9 a.m. and were gone within 30 minutes, the company said. Each kit contained two tests.

Stewart's Shops also partnered with New York's Albany County to distribute 1,000 at-home COVID-19 testing kits for free at six c-stores that serve the more rural areas of the county. The kits were given out from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Jan. 10.

The stores that offered the free kits are located in Ravena, Altamont, Selkirk, Voorheesville, Feura Bush, and East Berne, reported CBS 6 Albany. Area residents were able to take one kit per person.

"We continue to see an alarming and unprecedented surge of COVID infections driven by the highly contagious omicron variant, and I remain committed to getting test kits into the hands of as many Albany County residents as possible," said Albany County Executive Daniel P. McCoy. "Unfortunately, our rural communities lack testing sites, which is why I'm proud to partner with our friends at Stewart's Shops to distribute these at-home tests that I secured from Gov. Hochul, ensuring there is a greater level of equity in our fight against COVID. These will bolster the thousands of test kits that we've already sent to our local cities, towns and villages and improve our ability to detect the virus and stop the spread."

Stewart's Shops previously partnered with Ulster County, N.Y., to offer walk-in COVID-19 vaccines at store locations throughout the county, as Convenience Store News previously reported. The first 100 residents to be vaccinated at each site received their choice of either free coffee or ice cream.

Saratoga Springs-based Stewart's Shops operates more than 345 c-stores in 31 counties across upstate New York and southern Vermont.