Charlotte, North Carolina (CNN) — The upbeat, Spanish music still floats through the aisles of Sav/Way Foods, the Latino supermarket in the heart of the bustling and boisterous Plaza Midwood neighborhood.

But at 8:30 on a chilly morning this week, the songs on the loudspeakers are about all the Spanish you hear.

“It’s been really, really slow,” says employee Bella Duran as a half-dozen shoppers silently mill about the store. “A lot of our customers have been scared to come out.”

Some patrons now afraid to leave their homes are taking Sav/Way up on its offer of free home delivery. Inside the store, rows of tortillas and shoulder-high stacks of canned hominy sit largely untouched, while the jewelry and travel kiosks are dark.

A phone rings inside the store’s main office, and seconds l

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