Are Grocery Shelves Empty By You?

Ever since Covid first started, I have had issues with getting products we use at the Wegmans we frequent in a suburb of Buffalo, NY. Sodas we like come and go, my beloved Pepperidge Farm cookies I love are very seldom in stock since March 2020 (Lexington flavor. When they do have them, I hoard these like someone on that TV show and I don't care. If I could get them to load the pallet direct in my car, I would), the pepperjack cheese sticks are very rarely in, the sweet soy sauce hasn't been seen since last winter, we now buy applesauce on amazon because the flavor our kid likes was completely unreliable (mango peach), WHO KEEPS BUYING ALL THE WERTHERS ORIGINALS? I miss those. I could keep going. There's just a lot of things we either do without or we buy substitutes of or I look on Amazon for. Since this has been going on since Covid first hit, I don't know when or if it will ever end. Change is constant so I find I just need to adjust to it.

I’m in suburban WNY too. I thought you were joking about the Werthers. Nope. I’m a hospital based RN Consultant & I’m talking with patients all day long. Between the talking, masks & the general dryness in the hospital, I’m constantly fighting that dry throat tickle. I have a Werthers in my mouth almost constantly during my 12 hour shifts. I’m down to the last few & need more for work tomorrow. Sure enough, NONE at Wegmans or Tops! Thankfully I found some at Target. Bought 2 big bags. Hope I don’t regret not buying more. :laughing:

Wegmans near me has also been very hit or miss the whole time. For most of the last year, Tops has been more reliable that Wegmans. But the last month or so, things have gone missing at both chains. And such random items. One week, Pop Tarts were empty. BelVita breakfast bars have been missing several times & the flavors are limited if they are there. PT & TP are just about empty at Tops for the last week. Wegmans has their own brand, only a few name brand packs of each. Tissues are fully stocked, paper plates come & go. There were none at Target today, PT & TP were about half full. Sanitizer wipes & spray & cleaning supplies are fully stocked everywhere. And I did notice they have canned goods displayed to disguise that the shelves are half empty. Sorry, I didn’t check kitty litter. :rotfl2:



State Store shelves are very empty.

Diet Dr. Pepper in 24 packs? Do they even make it anymore? Can't find a cube for over a year now.

Tons of bacon, though:rolleyes1 It will rot before anyone pays those prices.


I usually buy the microwave bacon, but looked at regular bacon today.
Almost $13 for a pound of brand name bacon. :scared1: Got the store brand for about $7 instead.
 
I usually buy the microwave bacon, but looked at regular bacon today.
Almost $13 for a pound of brand name bacon. :scared1: Got the store brand for about $7 instead.

If I'm going to buy bacon, I get it where you buy meat behind the counter. Tastes much better. Otherwise, Costco is okay.
 


If I'm going to buy bacon, I get it where you buy meat behind the counter. Tastes much better. Otherwise, Costco is okay.

Our supermarkets don’t have bacon at the meat counters. Wegmans does at the deli I think. And no Costco here. So store brand it is.
 
I had to go to another Costco to find it.

I did see an article on Bloomberg today about grocery stores not having everything. I guess Thanksgiving is going to be whatever I can find.

I read it earlier today as well. I really didn't think we'd still be seeing this kind of thing now. I really hope that people keep their wits about them this time and/or that stores limit quantities on certain staples. Here's the article RamblingMad is referencing.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...as-supply-chain-headaches-worsen?srnd=premium
 


I haven't read all of the responses, but just came home from our grocery store.

We are in NH and shop at Market Basket.

There were quite a few things on my list that I couldnt get.
-ready made pie crust. In normal times you would have your choice of store brand or Pillsbury. There was none to be found.
-In the summer time, we buy big bags of chips. For the rest of the year, we buy the sacks of chips with individual bags inside. I was looking for 4 different kinds and there were none.
-Marsala cooking wine, none to be found.
-Cream style corn. Usually there would be store brand and Green Giant etc. There was none.
-Ghirardelli brownie mix. There were a couple of boxes, but none of the double chocolate that I normally buy.

What is REALLY noticeable is that a lot of shelves are sparse, although the store does a great job of hiding that. They pull everything to the front. so you dont even realize that the shelf is over half empty until you go to grab an item and see empty shelf behind it. This was the case for several things that was on my list that I was able to get. I grabbed the last two bottles of a certain type of hot sauce for my son. When I picked up the dressing I needed, there was only 4 bottles left on the shelve. Same with Lysol spray cleaner.

Like I said, the store does a great job of disguising the shelves to give the appearance of lots of stock. Like I described above, the stock is all pulled to the front so you don't even notice that over half the shelf is empty until you grab something and look behind. They also put lots of the same product on a shelf to fill up space.

Having said all of the above. No one is going to go hungry. There is PLENTY of food and supplies to be had. You just have to adapt that there is a fairly good chance that you may not get the item you want. But you can pivot and in my case, buy different chips, canned vegetables, cooking wine and make your own pie crust etc.

For folks that shop the perimeter of the store, stock looked great for dairy, fresh fruits and vegetables. The paper product aisle was also stocked.

The shortages are real and I don't believe for a minute that the news is making things up or exaggerating the situation. But, like I said, no one is going to go hungry!
Yes! We just need to lower our expectations.
 
I keep reading everyday how grocery shelves are empty or going to be empty, etc. . With the exception of a few random times here and there every supermarket I have been in is plenty stocked. I am in New England by the way. I know about the supply issues, etc, but as far as food goes I am not seeing it. What are you seeing by you?
In WI, shelves look pretty normal stock-wise but I work within manufacturing and FedEx and UPS are already warning they will not guarantee any ship types. Last year we got their notice in mid-Nov. There are also raw material stock-outs globally. For example, spray paint and other aerosols might be hard to come by.
 
ABC News tonight said that Proctor & Gamble just announced that as they had warned everyone previously they had to raise prices, (which they did,) they now have to raise them again, and that their may be shortages on their products, which include Tide Detergent, shampoos, soaps and toothpastes, etc.

It's not just supply issues of already made items. Many manufacturers are having problems getting raw materials to make their items. Asia, then Europe shut down way before we did, so that caused one kink in the supply chain. And while the U.S. is currently discussing which vaccination shot we can get as a third (booster) shot, many third world countries, where a lot of the raw materials are harvested, aren't even able to get first shots yet. They aren't rushing back to work in what were already unsafe, hazardous conditions for other reasons.
 
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ABC News tonight said that Proctor & Gamble just announced that as they had to warn everyone that they previously had to raise prices, (which they did,) they now have to raise them again, and that their may be shortages on their products, which include Tide Detergent, shampoos, soaps and toothpastes, etc.

It's not just supply issues of already made items. Many manufacturers are having problems getting raw materials to make their items. Asia, then Europe shut down way before we did, so that caused one kink in the supply chain. And while the U.S. is discussing which vaccination shot we can get as a third booster shot, many third world countries where a lot of the raw materials are harvested, aren't even able to get first shots yet. They aren't rushing back to work.

Not surprised. Took me a bit to track down my toothpaste.

This is going to be a tough holiday season for a lot of families this year.

Have you seen Ragnarok on Netflix? The rich family can afford to eat meat. The family being raised by a single mother can't afford to feed their kids meat.
 
Here’s a question for the group … would you be willing to pay potentially higher prices for goods if those goods were manufactured in the United States (or Canada) rather than overseas? Just curious.
 
Not surprised. Took me a bit to track down my toothpaste.

This is going to be a tough holiday season for a lot of families this year.


Have you seen Ragnarok on Netflix? The rich family can afford to eat meat. The family being raised by a single mother can't afford to feed their kids meat.

ABC News also interviewed one owner of some retail store. She said she's been told that all the Christmas items she ordered, which are stuck on one of those cargo ships out at sea, aren't expected to get to her until next FEBRUARY. :badpc:

So, she's already paid for items she can't get. Can't get replaced in a timely fashion. Might not have the money to replace them even if she can get them in time. And when the stock comes in, won't be sell-able as they are out of season. :badpc:

Add to that: I don't know if anyone has mentioned the fact that when the stuff finally does roll into stores - months late - perishable items may be expired or a lot closer to their expiration. In other words, stale and not very edible, even if they aren't health hazards.

ALL of that will drive up prices even more. :headache:

Now I'm really starting to think the hoarders and doomsday preppers had it right after all. :scratchin
 
ABC News also interviewed one owner of some retail store. She said she's been told that all the Christmas items she ordered, which are stuck on one of those cargo ships out at sea, aren't expected to get to her until next FEBRUARY. :badpc:

So, she's already paid for items she can't get. Can't get replaced in a timely fashion. Might not have the money to replace them even if she can get them in time. And when the stock comes in, won't be sell-able as they are out of season. :badpc:

Add to that: I don't know if anyone has mentioned the fact that when the stuff finally does roll into stores - months late - perishable items may be expired or a lot closer to their expiration. In other words, stale and not very edible, even if they aren't health hazards.

ALL of that will drive up prices even more. :headache:

Now I'm really starting to think the hoarders and doomsday preppers had it right after all. :scratchin

It's going to be an interesting holiday season. I'm going to have to look for deals in January and February. I'm still trying to get a PS5.
 
Not doing that myself. But still it is beyond very annoying when you see other people do it still sadly.
 
Here’s a question for the group … would you be willing to pay potentially higher prices for goods if those goods were manufactured in the United States (or Canada) rather than overseas? Just curious.
Definitely yes for me.
 
Here’s a question for the group … would you be willing to pay potentially higher prices for goods if those goods were manufactured in the United States (or Canada) rather than overseas? Just curious.
Yes.
 
Here’s a question for the group … would you be willing to pay potentially higher prices for goods if those goods were manufactured in the United States (or Canada) rather than overseas? Just curious.
Pre pandemic you'd probably see a lot more nos but these days probably a lot more yeses. Keep in mind though lower income individuals lose out here and depending on how spending occurs discretionary spending from those who could may be reduced if more of that is funneled away to pay for goods. Unless everyone is reaping in more money it doesn't necessarily make it a win. Also people tend to think everything can be made here it can't, electronics for one the metals in them aren't found here.
 

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