Among Friends

[gidgetgh]

Some spotty shortages and outages where I live in metro Atlanta.

I am keeping a more than needed supply of Charmin.  I figure that's the one thing I can't find substitutions for.

As for food, I figure if it gets really bad I can live on grilled cheese sandwiches and canned soup.  That would be ok.

[shoptilyadropagain]

My local Wal-Mart is poorly managed and there have been (temporary) shortages of misc items for years.  However, the past couple of months I've noticed the candy aisle is all but wiped out.

[panda1234]

Along with shortages of products there is a shortage of staff for delivery and stocking. 

[ajsidney12]

Apple juice is scarce in the stores around MA and RI.  The kiddo only drinks apple juice from the juice boxes (I know, I know but it is for school lunch) and cannot find it anywhere.  Plenty of Fruit Punch or Grape Juice, which is a no-go for this picky eater/drinker.

[Duckncover]

At my grocery store there are always bare shelves where something hasn't been shipped...it's seems random. One week it's no instant pudding or several freezer cases with only one or two products in it; Another week it's no Activia or bagged salads. I am told they get most deliveries,  but have no one to get it out from the stockroom and put it on the shelves....I have even seen the manager herself putting oranges out on the display bins and pushing big flatbeds of paper towels, etc.out to the floor. She is a hard worker but they simply don't have enough workers. I know her pretty well and she says they can't get anyone to take a job. The front of the store has been set up with a job application area and free donuts, sandwiches and promises of big bonuses....she said it gets no traffic at all. Once the kids went back to school, it dropped the staff even lower. Seems no one wants to work anymore. Sad. Not to mention every product seems to have shot up in price every week I shop. One older man who has worked there for years as a cashier always looks flustered and overwhelmed but by golly he is always there and is very efficient. Good example of strong work ethic which seems to be becoming a thing of the past.

[Lipstickdiva]

I don't believe all of these shortages have anything to do with being a Covid hot spot.  It has to do with a shortage of truck drivers to get products from place to place, a shortage of workers to unload the trucks and stock shelves, etc.  There are 56 cargo ships sitting off the coast of CA and no workers on the docks to unload these ships.

I saw on the news this morning that Costco is going to back to limits on some items because of shortages.

Shelves in my stores have been bare for weeks and continue to get more bare by the weeks.  They are spreading stuff out to make it look like entire shelves aren't empty but IMO that just makes things look worse.  I placed an on-line order last week for curbside pick-up and I cannot tell you the number of texts I rec'd because so many of the items I ordered were out of stock. 

[Patriot3]

At Meijer, not only are some of the shelves bare, they have started limiting items i.e. water, paper supplies and some canned fruit.  I'm sure there are more limits in aisles I didn't visit.  Getting scary...........

[Carmie]

Chicken is in short supply.  There are breasts, but no wings, thighs or whole chickens to speak of.

Paper towels and TP are missing too.  If you can find them, you can only buy one package.

I wanted full fat cottage cheese and checked two stores. Couldn't find it.

Thankfully, there is no shortage of chocolate.

I have been reading about shortages coming our way.  I always keep a stocked up pantry and have several of just about everything I need.

[stevieb]

Keeping shelves stocked has never been a strength of my local Target. And, since it was declared a 'lower volume' store, it seems all the stocking takes place when shoppers are trying to shop, so aisles are often inaccessible. I guess only the higher volume stores get stocked at night. I don't know if it's a cost cutting measure or a staffing issue, but there seem to be fewer checkouts open these days. 

Reading about these shortages is unnerving. I think we'd all like to have believed we were past all this but quite frankly, things only seem to deteriorate further. Whatever happened to the Xanadu that was supposed to ensue last winter?

[deeva]

I have three Target stores near me. I haven't found many shortages.

Guess it depends on the region.