Many grocery and big box stores across the United States have been hard hit by shoppers, many of them hoarders stocking up with food and other supplies in anticipation of shortages later. Stocks of toilet paper, rice and pasta have been completely exhausted in some stores.
Although experts say our supply of food and other essentials is excellent, it hasn’t stopped some consumers from stocking up. At Costco, lines have often been an hour long or more.
What’s it like where you live? After you answer the poll, feel free to leave a comment with details about your local situation.
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I really appreciate all the news stories that recommend wiping down surfaces with disinfectant wipes, using hand sanitizer, etc. Try to find that stuff in the stores! IMPOSSIBLE!!! THANKS HOARDERS!!!!!!
The big box stores here in central Florida have empty shelves as people continue to buy up supplies. We live in a somewhat rural area and have plenty to do to stay busy and entertained. The local IGA store is doing a fantastic job of keeping the shelve stocked. They post on face book most days to say they are open and ready to serve. We live just north of Orlando about 25 miles.
The big 3- Paper Towels, TP, and Sanitizers of any kind are always empty. Some food items- Bread and the like. No reason for this other than hoarding by people.
We get most of our groceries and other supplies at our local Walmart and Sam’s Club in south metro Atlanta. Both stores have implemented “senior hours” early on certain weekday mornings so that’s when we shop. This past week there were more people stocking the shelves at WM that early than people shopping, and most of the items I wanted were available — even disinfectant wipes (limit one per customer). Sam’s Club had a limit of one on EVERY item, so it was well-stocked early in the morning, too. Our nearby Kroger’s also has early senior hours four days a week. I don’t know what the supply situation is later in the day, or in other areas.
We put ourselves in voluntary lockdown a week ago and will try to shop for groceries only once a week or less often. We haven’t hoarded anything but do have a supply of canned and boxed goods that should last several weeks. After living all or most of the time in an RV for 14 years, our 2,000 square foot house feels like a mansion and we can still get out to enjoy our back yard, walk the dogs, and ride our bikes. Stay safe, everyone!
A few cleaning supplies were not available. The Walmart I was in yesterday in Clarksburg, WV is limiting quantities that can be purchased on a few items, in order to leave some for someone else. Personally, I wish such measures were instituted much sooner.
We will get through this!
At first it was short of toilet paper (still perplexing as to why?) and hand sanitizer. On my last visit to the supermarket it was chicken that could not be found, eggs limited to two dozen per customer (other than for a restaurant, how many people need more than that at one time?) and of course, no hand sanitizer. Everything else was available and people were being friendly and for the most part, practicing good “social distancing”.
Rather than wearing vinyl or latex gloves, which might be needed at a later time, I have used disposable pet waste bags on my hands in the supermarket as well as when pumping gas for my car. Cheap, disposable, and they work as a physical barrier to possible contamination with the virus.
FWIW, my wife and I used to end up going to the supermarket several times weekly, even for just a few needed or wanted items. Now we build up a much longer shopping list and go much less often, and usually just one of us goes rather than both of us together. We are being careful, but not going crazy.
Here in our part of New Mexico, the panic buying seems to have subsided some. Folks are either calming down, or running out of storage space. I even saw a good supply of Camco TP at a “major US retailer” yesterday while waiting for a prescription. Limits were still in place so one could only buy one 4 pack. We have plenty so I left it for someone else. Some things were still in short supply the last time I grocery shopped maybe 4-5 days ago, most notably flour, yeast, baking powder, eggs, bagged potatoes, and a few other items, but no one was going to starve (we have a Shamrock Store in town, and they had huge commercial-sized sacks of flour..but without baking powder or yeast I couldn’t do much with 50lbs of flour)…there was plenty of frozen foods, fresh meat and vegetables, some canned items. bread was on the shelves. For some folks, getting favorites might still be tough, but there is plenty to eat. A good time to get creative and try something new!
I suppose the most disappointing thing I saw a few days ago was a crowd of people milling around a closed off aisle of cleaning supplies waiting for employees to finish stocking and re-open the aisle. Many were NOT doing their duty by practicing “social distancing”. To coin a phrase…I stayed away like it was the plague! 😉
We really need to get serious about this…spreading coronavirus while waiting for the chance to buy a bottle of lysol just isn’t going to get it.
The hysterical panic buying seems to be subsiding, the local supermarket had TP, Kleenex, paper towels and bottled water in limited quantities yesterday. Limit one package per visit. They had some empty shelves for other products but for the most part you can get what you came for. This is in North Florida. The county had 51 cases of WuFlu mostly associated with the very large university in the area. Most of the cases in the state are down in the Miami-Ft Launderdale-Palm Beach part of the state. That’s very popular with NY, NJ and other NE state visitors.
Here in southern California, our local non-union grocery stores have everything in stock. Some things have changed, my local store only sells eggs in 30-egg flats. Meanwhile the big chain grocery stores and Costcos are where massive groups of people go to panic buy. The Costco senior hour is a joke, it’s just an opportunity to get sick with 1,000s of seniors. Crazy!
Give your local neighborhood store a shot.
I haven’t seen a neighborhood store since I left the mid-west.
We have been holed up for about 3 days now but before this, shelves were basically wiped out. I mean, no meat, no canned goods, no water, no paper products, no cleaning products, very little dairy, no pasta, no nothing. The funny thing was that the Easter candy aisles were completely full. No problem for chocoholics at all. If it were not for that aisle, I would have said the store was closing. I asked a stocker and clerk if they had a problems with trucks or help. They both said help. I don’t buy that totally as there were no trucks out back stacked up. And usually at Walmart, there are hoards of stockers all day restacking. We saw only a small hand full. I did see that when a pallet of water came out, it was like a pack of wolves. The stocker could not even get to the aisle to insert it into the slot before he was mobbed and the pallet was emptied. Are people afraid that the water tap is going to shut off? Maybe the electricity to the pumps? If electricity goes off, so much for all that fresh food they bought…
We drove to surrounding counties to see if it was the same. It was. It did not matter if it was Walmart, a local grocery store or a convenience store. The only place we found some products was at the local drug stores. It seems no one had hit those spots as I guess people are worried about sick people going there.
We are currently in Tarrant County Texas. It is West of Dallas County. We checked 4 other surrounding counties. Maybe in 3 days, things have changed. We don’t know since we are on a lockdown order. I would not suggest coming to this area for groceries at the moment.
For this area, some parks might have availability. One would just have to call around. We don’t like the reports of parks closing as stupid government try to determine whether or not it is essential or not. If they do, then us full-timers should park in the Capital parking lots until they can figure out where we need to go.
We won’t stay in a hotel where HVAC systems serve multiple rooms. There is a high probability that they don’t use HEPA filtration and UV lighting in the duct systems. Therefore, as air circulates between rooms, the germs spread. You see this in nursing homes, state assisted living homes, buildings full of employees, etc. And you wonder why they can’t get control of the situation. Germs are both surface contamination and air borne. This applies not only to CV but also the common cold and flu as well. “Droplets don’t all just fall to the floor. Just like rain, the heavy droplets might fall to a surface, but lighter droplets just hang in the air until/unless they get heavy enough. Some droplets just attach to air molecules and float in the air longer. Keep that in mind even in social distancing areas. 6′ still might not be far enough.
We’re in Central Florida, inland. 25 miles west of Orlando. I went shopping just before it all went crazy. Normally we shop once a week, we live in our motorhome fulltime. I bought the usual 4 rolls of TP, Charmin extra soft, 4 rolls equals 9 or something like that.
3 subsequent shopping trips, one for some hardware items from Lowe’s and bottled water for a friend that can’t go shopping very well ( 6 stores later I found bottled water for her), every store I’ve been in the TP is non existent, there might be one roll of paper towels. I eat ramen noodles, those shelves were empty. I finally found them on this week’s shopping foray. If I don’t get to the Publix grocery store (3 in a 15 mile radius) at the exact right time, hamburger, pork, chicken and eggs are cleaned out. I saw that flour and all supplies for making bread were cleaned out as well. I didn’t need those though. Most of the milk is gone.
I suppose I could go on and on, but I won’t. Oh, just down the road from our RV park is a lady with chickens and ducks that sells eggs, so no problem keeping a couple dozen eggs in our fridge. The shelves for eggs in the grocery store were empty as well. Somebody wanted her to supply them with 40 dozen eggs and she refused.
Lakeland Florida area – Publix trying to keep up with the situation. With ‘panic’ of folks who hear on the news broadcasts “don’t worry–no shortage”, many only hear two words, WORRY and SHORTAGE…and proceed accordingly (run out, stockpile).
When we returned to our RV on the 16th of March from overseas we stopped on the way home to shop for things such as milk, bread etc and were shocked at how empty the shelves were at our local stores. I must say that the media helped create this problem with their blaring headlines each day screaming “breaking news coronavirus cases have doubled today”! In our case they went from 1 to 2 in our county. Instead of attempting to calm people with reassurances that there were no shortages anywhere in the supply chain (except perhaps for masks, gloves etc) and doing whatever they could to help allay fears they consistently increase anxiety with even more “breaking news” at every opportunity. There…….I feel better now that I’ve vented!
Thank you ! Well said.
EXcuse me but “away overseas” upon return Mar 16th you must self isolate for 14 days . Your needs should be shopped for by others and dropped off for you. You should not be in the public spaces AT ALL.
this transmission from travelers is REAL
Please stop and think about what you are sharing here with your friends neighbors and your disregard for others who have been so carefully distancing themselves to help lower the infection rate until they can get a handle on those that are sick and test those that need tests.
You should become better informed than you appear to be in this blurb.
Not all the news is bad, but some of it is almost like yelling fire in a crowded theater. “Breaking News” should be used for breaking news, whatever that is.
We’re in SW FL in the second oldest county in the state. Senior shopping hours are a joke since that’s the majority of our population. Our local stores are starting to restock and most items can be found with only a few items still MIA. We haven’t needed TP, sanitizer or wipes yet (working off our usual Sam’s club size containers). I always wiped down my kitchen at least weekly and we kept sanitizer in cars, my purse and the house long before this started. We were able to buy Kleenex (1 box to a customer) and paper napkins (same) at our local Publix. Great stock of all things dairy, all produce and fresh bakery. Good selection in the deli area. More limited meat and chicken stocks than normal and canned veggies (and some frozen) were still very light. Pasta, rice, and dry beans – almost bare shelves. You can see that stock is slowly rebuilding as the trucks come in and the snowbirds leave. I shopped one evening about dinner time and had an almost empty store with stockers in every aisle.
Hey at least you have senior hours, we don’t. You have to call in an order and have it delivered. Nice for helping me take care of my parents, but they won’t deliver to us since we are so far out.
“Senior shopping hours are a joke since that’s the majority of our population.”
I missed your suggestion of a better way of handling the situation, but sure, they’re a “joke.” The stores in our current area, Vero Beach, are doing a great job of cleaning, organizing, having extra employees to guide people to the high demand items [when they’re available] and are still managing to remain pleasant while doing so, all while working in what I’m sure are hazardous conditions, since they’re dealing with the potentially infected public. I’d like to say “Well Done” in particular to the folks at Publix and Winn Dixie for their efforts during these very uncertain times!
Senior shopping hours at the start of the day is no joke. The store is sanitized during night restocking, therefore the store is the most sanitized before the general public gets into the store.
If people would only get what they need they would be fine. My parents are in their 90’s and live in an independent living center. They have been in lock down for 3 weeks now and are now trying to get hand sanitizer and cleaning wipes. I’m like you are in lockdown and the only people allowed in are healthcare and housekeeping. Use soap and water. Heavy sigh!!! they just don’t get it so you do the best you can.
We’re in Rockport, Texas. The HEB and Walmart shelves are in better shape now than last week. The only thing I can’t ever find regardless of time of day is eggs. Many of the Winter Texans have gone home which helps.
Went to Publix in Anderson, SC yesterday. Shelves had most items. Produce, Dairy, Bakery normal. Store was enforcing limits of two on milk, soup, canned meats, etc. White chicken gone, but plenty of thighs. More pork than beef. Frozen in pretty good shape except low on pizzas. Some paper towels and napkins, kleenex. Flour low. I didn’t check the cleaning aisle. I did see toilet paper at CVS later.
Since this thing started, our local grocery stores (2 in a town of 3600) have not had TP, hand sanitizer or disinfecting wipes. Presently, eggs and fresh produce are becoming less and less. A bit worrisome. Wonder where this will all end. Also we have NOT been hoarding, we are considerately leaving products for our neighbors.
Since we’re not at home at the moment, I can only report on the stores in Quartzsite, AZ. I think most who come down here would agree that the Roadrunner Market is a favorite store because it has more of everything than just about any of the other stores in town. So, my answer is #2. We even got eggs yesterday. They limit water purchases to one flat per person. Their fresh produce selection is not bad, especially given where Quartzsite IS!
The Family Dollar Store also seems to be a favorite, especially among the locals (remember Chuck’s story?). Lotsa water and ice.
People are friendly, especially the RV’ers, and it’s pretty easy to distinguish who we/they are. Just sayin’.
Publix near us in Florida hasn’t had toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, hand-sanitizer, hand soap in bottles, or Clorox wipes for a few weeks. Went there a couple days ago again and they still have none of those items but now in addition no canned soup, no dish soap, no chicken (but did have a little bit of steak and a little pork), and hardly any milk or butter. Understandably, they were limiting highly sought after items to two per customer.
My wife and daughter have basically found the same thing at our Publix. Daughter did find milk and eggs yesterday – still no toilet paper after two weeks. Maybe someone from the mid-west could send some corn cobs to Fla. Our county has us somewhat locked down. Can only leave the house for bank (drive thru), groceries, pharmacy, gas (where can we go anyway?), and drive thru restaurants.
Being from the mid-west – being snowed in, floods,etc. and hurricanes here in Florida we don’t seem to be THAT inconvenienced by staying at home. However, we are retired and if still employed, I would be on the essential personnel, front line list. I feel for what my friends at my old job are going thru.
For what it’s worth, larger cities are going to have more shortages, but stay where you are and don’t come to our town thinking we are going to let you in. Told Commissioner to block roads from the east and south because of horrible outbreaks of it there. This too will pass. So far the flu is wining.
Costco online ordering has a $75 minimum to get free delivery, but they are out of so many items, it’s nearly impossible to put together a $75 order. They should lower the minimum to $35 for awhile.
TP, hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol and gloves are pretty much unobtainable. Staples like flour and sugar are in short supply, so timing store visits is everything. Canned soups are hard to get and canned and frozen veggies are scarce as is pasta and noodles.
Things are slowly starting to re-appear as folks calm down some. Last week there was no pork of any kind available, and no chicken. Today the butcher shops are pretty well stocked with pork, but chicken is still scarce. I suspect that the processing plants, are severely impacted by the virus outbreak.
It’s all good though, I grew up in snow country with routine power outages in the winter, and my wife and I lived in the High Sierra for 17 years, so having a couple three weeks of supplies on hand is normal for us. We may not be able to get exactly what we want at time, bt we have what we need.
NM shut down very quickly and the stores were emptied the first weekend. My sams club plus membership gave me free shipping for most of the essentials, however, TP is still a problem.
It’s been almost 4 weeks since I have found toilet paper, facial tissues, napkins, disinfecting wipes, hand sanitizer, or rubbing alcohol. I finally purchased paper towels & bottled water yesterday. I’m 68 with several underlying health conditions so it’s always scary to go to the store. Most people here, in the stores of Lake Havasu City & Kingman, in Arizona don’t seem concerned. The governor hasn’t ordered a statewide shelter-in-place but only essential stores seem to be open.
It is nice for some stores to set aside early hours for seniors to shop. The problem is that items are delivered on different days and seniors can’t go every day to obtain different groceries. Walmart here only gets bread on Mondays. If you don’t shop on Monday early it is all gone. I don’t know that there is an answer other than hope the situation resolves with time.
We quit the special “senior hours” shopping because there were more people in the store than during regular hours.
In Mt.Vernon WA., the Walmart had a run on cereal, pasta, rice, TP paper towels, sanitizer canned meals, canned meats and vegetables. Pasta, rice and canned goods are still noticeably limited. Now butter is in short supply and all cooking oils. Curiously idolized table salt was out for three weeks in February and while there was some on one trip it is out again. This shows that the supply chain is more tenuous that we expected and not very elastic ( can’t expand quickly to fill the voids) and the manufacturing base is slow to ramp up production. Maybe the system will learn to add inventory at all levels and limits quantities early on to reduce shortages.
Adding inventory, at least in the long term, is problematic. Most grocery stores and warehouses operate on a just-in-time (JIT) principle. Supplies arrive just in time to go out to the stores and to be purchased by customers. Inventory costs money and most grocery stores operate on a very low profit margin. When I was in the business, net profit was less than 1 penny on the dollar.
We’re at our home base in Ohio and our local stores now have most everything and the only thing limited yesterday was ground beef. (That surprised me) However some items have had their price raised. May be that was to pay for the extra cleaning people/materials they are using.
You must not be near Cincinnati. Kroger stock is horrible! I used their “click it” option, for the first, and last time, for pick up, and 40% of my order was not there. And I didn’t order TP, paper towels, or hand sanitizer! Time to try smaller stores, if they are deemed “essential”.
Opposite corner of the state.
Shelf’s for Paper products and dry goods like rice and beans are mostly bare. Fresh fruit n veggies stock are fine
The stores in Southern CA are catching up, except Costco which still has huge lines outside. We found that ethnic markets were a best bet. The Asian markets had rice and the latino markets had canned goods (bilingual labels, but illustrated), pasta sauces and tortillas. We do not need paper goods but they are available if you get there at store opening. Walmart is restocking regularly and their Sam’s Club warehouses are handling crowds well, with purchase limits in place. We maintain pantry stock and are only buying what we normally use. Happy to report everyone is courteous and polite.
Hey, Ham Radio. Thanks for your comment. Just wanted to mention (seeing your email address) that my grandfather’s ham radio license was K7SD — waaaaaaay back when. 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
I cannot honestly tell you what our shelves look like. We have been doing Curbside Pickup for 3 weeks. As far as that goes, except for hand sanitizer, we have gotten most of what we have been looking for. They might not be our “favorite” brands, organic if your choice, the ground beef might not be the percentage of fat you want, you might order 2 of something and only get one, but except for a few items eventually they show up. We have a running grocery list, and just keep putting in orders and get what we can, then take inventory, wait 5-7 days and place another order. The grocery store chain we use is hiring people at their warehouses left and right. We stopped shopping at any place that does not offer curbside service or insist on you going into the store to get the item, if it is in stock. The restaurants here that offer curbside pickup and free delivery are busier than they expected. I’m sure their sales are still down, but they are doing ok. We stopped doing Sams and Costco before this even started because we just don’t buy in bulk any longer so I cannot tell you how they are doing. Our neighbor does work for Walmart at one of the warehouses and he says they are constantly getting trucks in, and they are staying very busy emptying them and and packing to go elsewhere.
I have not been able to do curbside pickup for groceries because none of the items I need are available to order. I live in a rural area, so Walmart is basically my only choice. So, I went to the store as soon as they opened yesterday morning, and I was able to get almost everything. Not sure why it won’t let me order them online. I would really prefer to not have to go inside the store.
I live in Northern Mexico. Our HEB stores are well-stocked. There are some issues with hand sanitizer but lots of toilet paper. They do have limits on some items such as canned goods to 4 per purchase. Other than that we have plenty of fresh produce, meat and the TP. I’m sure it will get worse here but in the meantime all is good.
Tucson Arizona – paper products only if you get up early. I think ALL stores should have a “No Returns” policy once this crisis is over for all paper and cleaning supplies. So many people who only think of “me”
The senior hours at our grocery store is worse because it congested, close contact, waiting for the doors to open and keeping the proper distance. Waiting 20-25 minutes to go through the check out.
I prefer Going during the day with the regulars. I see no advantage for senior hours. It probably works for others though.
Why in the world would a store in Florida create special “senior” hours?? The average age of those in Florida is 68 years old!!!!! Stupid idea!
I think those hours are just for the seniors who want to shop then. They are not restricted to just those hours. And the number of hours designated for seniors or those with underlying health issues are very few each week, so it doesn’t restrict or “inconvenience” other shoppers very much. —Diane at RVtravel.com
I live in gravenhurst ontario canada, shopping at sobeys. Stock good, disinfect carts, food belts, marks on floor 6 ft apart. Impressed. Brian
Tucson Costco. Masked & gloved, at special senior hours, dear hubby braved the wilds: Today was the first time in a while that Costco had toilet paper back in stock. He only bought one package – no hoarding here. They also had tissues back in stock. Fry’s and Albertsons have been a hit and miss on paper products, milk and other staples. Rice of all things has been out of stock till today. Crazy what folks have been panic buying. Three weeks ago the shelves were bare!! On another note, back in January, some idiot threw a rock at our 5th wheel RV, which is parked in our back drive – shattering the side glass. We submitted the claim, by the time it went through the process, the Corona Virus hit the fan and now the glass factory is shut down, so we’re won’t see a replacement window for at least 4 or 5 months or whenever they open the factory up and start making glass again. Oh my. This is not a pity party. I am not whining. I am just remarking on the amazing trickle down impact this whole thing is having. Please stay home. Socially isolate. Don’t leave home. It’s not worth it folks.