Don't know about grocery stores, but nearly all of the banks and credit unions that are most commonly used by govt workers offer zero or low-interest loans. So

Don't know about grocery stores, but nearly all of the banks and credit unions that are most commonly used by govt workers offer zero or low-interest loans. Some will just automatically keep putting the normal direct deposit amount in the accounts, with the agreement that when the pay gets turned back on they get the money they advanced back. The article even mentions some of this. It's been a relatively common thing for more than a decade that I know of.