Community Chat

[Mominohio]

We headed out early Sunday morning to make a grocery store run, mostly for some fresh produce. We hit our most often chosen grocery, Meijer. They were pretty well stocked in most things, and had plenty of meats of all kinds, although for the first time, they had a limit of two kinds of each type of meat. There was lots of beef of all kinds, as well as all other styles and cuts of other meats. 

We then went to Sam's Club, as my mom was wanting some things from there and hasn't been out to a store since early March. I had let my Sam's membership expire late last year (for a host of reasons I won't go into here) and decided since I couldn't shop with my mom on hers during this time, I'd just renew my own. So I hadn't see what was going on in Sam's since November.

There was essentially no beef in the store, except for about 20 roasts in the case. I rung the bell for the meat room and asked the guy that answered it, about the empty cases. He said they are getting virtually no beef, maybe one box a day. There was some chicken, and all the processed meats like lunch meats, bacon, sausages etc. 

These two stores are less than a mile down the road from each other. Yes, I know that they have different supply chains, different warehouses etc. But it makes little sense that one store will have an abundance of something, and another within sight, will have nothing.

Our local Dollar General has been getting shipments of toilet paper and paper towels each week throughout this event, and while they limit to one per customer, and they often have only lasted two or three days, there has always been more each week. Other stores here have seen totally empty shelves in those same product lines since this thing started.

And the ever elusive disinfecting wipes have been found in the most obscure places. One town we went to a week or two ago, had wipes in three different stores we stopped at (although no place had more than just a few), yet other stores in our main shopping town have had zero.

It has been reassuring to see once virtually empty stores fill back up with most things but perplexing that one trip finds almost complete normalcy, while the next trip to the same store a week or two later, finds many gaps in so many areas.

I know I've never seen anything like this in my lifetime. The usual empty milk, bread and water aisles during a storm warning, but never anything like this. 

I certainly won't take a fully stocked grocery store for granted again in my lifetime.

[shaggygirl]

Toilet paper at Stop & Shop this morning for the first time in quite a while. I was there about 6:30am. Bet it's gone by noon. Only 12 packs of Angel Soft brand but it's a start. 

[jellyBEAN]

It is interesting isn't it?  I am STILL on the hunt for toilet paper.  Since I wanted some things at Lowes I figured I'd try there as they'd always had a good selection of paper goods and cleaners before.  The entire side of the aisle where the paper goods used to be is now occupied by something completely different (that I didn't need).  Nothing.

Most people go to their neighbors house to borrow a cup of sugar or an extra stick of butter or something.  Me?  Uhh, do you have an extra roll of toilet paper I could borrow?

[AuntG]

Although I didn't look for any disinfectants since this began, those are probably the only sellouts we've had. Meat and paper products were low at a few points but never sold out. We try to shop about once in ten days and are in and out in under a half hour.

[Gorgf]

I have yet to see a gallon of bleach or wipes. I don't need one as use very little of it but look out of interest.Walgreens again features toilet paper in their ad ad why, bare shelves?I did not bother to go in as a waste of time.Wal-Mart here has slowly getting back paper products. I went in Sunday to the local market. Bacon and prepackaged greens going fast. Someone that works in the store said the personal shoppers are using up the stock quickly. There were eight filling  large orders am sure. They cut their own meat so more beef available. 

[FranandZoe]

I've been ordering a lot online - Clorox Cleanup and Pine Sol from Staples even their TP (free shipping); my usual TP and Purel wipes and Wet Ones Wipes from eBay; dishwasher detergent from Amazon.  I refuse going to multiple stores.  If I find stuff in my usual grocery store I buy it but not going searching.  My dil works for a doctors group and she had provided us with with gel hand sanitizer.  

[Spurt]

TP seems to be returning to the shelves here, but forget any cleaning products--clorax, clorax wipes, lysol are NOWHERE....even toilet bowl cleaner cant be found!!!!!!  A friend told me about a little known hidden convenience store that might fulfill my needs that I might check out....

[scatcat]

Just got back from Target.  Wipes, toilet paper, paper towels, toilet bowl cleaner, ground beef and chicken all there. 

Maybe I just got lucky, maybe it's location. I don't buy more than I need 

[stuyvesant]

I've wondered about this myself.  But I think it's just, to use a catch phrase, "the supply chain."  I'm in the poster city for covid in America (and may we keep that title and nobody else get it) and you'd think we'd have things like hand sanitizer and purell wipes.

We now have hand sanitizer, in some stores not all of them, but it's a generic type.  So that indicates somebody is aware and is making an effort.

To be honest, I had a vague feeling that Manhattan stores were always wall to wall people but that's not really true.  It's rare to have more than two or three people ahead of me on line, and most times there's nobody.  But I shop first thing in the AM, one of the tedious routines I've developed in covid time.

People here describe getting to the store before it opens and there's a huge line waiting. Now that I think about it, we have that at Trader Joes.  The store opens at 9 for regular people, and there are people lined up for that opening when I waltz in at 8:15 for senior/immune challenged hour.

[shaggygirl]

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@Spurt wrote:

TP seems to be returning to the shelves here, but forget any cleaning products--clorax, clorax wipes, lysol are NOWHERE....even toilet bowl cleaner cant be found!!!!!!  A friend told me about a little known hidden convenience store that might fulfill my needs that I might check out....

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@Spurt 

Same for me this morning w/the toilet bowl cleaner. Found some but had to get Nature's Promise which is all they had and it's a store brand. Coconut Scent so at least the toilets should smell nice....till the first flush anyway.