When do you think grocery shopping will have a sense of normalcy again?

[Hikergirl]

I saw on FB that Shoprite and Price Chopper around here were hiring to keep up with the demand.

I'm about to go pick up a BJs order. I am surprised they had what I needed in stock because last time I was there it was wiped out.

 

[Searc]

What a thoughtful list!
Going to post it on my building's forum.

It won't do me or any of my facebook friends any good, but I wanted to make sure it was posted for people who can actually use it.

 

[Searc]

I was hoping things were starting to settle down, but it was crazy at 6 am at Kroger this morning. I always go at this time when I get off of work and am usually one of the only ones in the store. There were hordes of people this morning. The line to use the self check registers (all that was open) stretched halfway across the store.

They were stocking TP and it was being snapped up as soon as it was loaded off the pallet.

There were zero bread products, but thankfully a bread stocker showed up just as I was leaving and I was able to snag a loaf.

I don’t think I will ever take “normal” for granted again!

What state are you in? Location may make a difference if a lockdown is in place or imminent.

 

[NYCgrrl]

If the stores around here adopt that for the time being I hope they waive the 5 cent fee they charge for paper ones now that plastic is banned.

Re: plastic bags.
So far, shopping w/ reusable bags has been much easier than I anticipated. Local market shopping is easy enough but doing our big protein shopping @ Stew Leonard's had me worried. Bought approx $400.00 worth of mostly protein there and it all fit in a LLBean type tote and a foldable shopping cart similar to this: https://www.zabars.com/productshow?pid=BGIE001 (No, I dinna pay that foolish price for it ). It all fit nicely in the trunk of the Uber and was a whiz to transport once we got to the apartment building.

 

[cabanafrau]

Friend just posted a photo of Costco this afternoon. Other than paper products and pasta, shelves are fully stocked again.

DH was at our Costco yesterday afternoon and while shelves may look generally stocked here he said when you really took note of what was there it was obvious they're putting out everything they do have to fill space, but it's basically just 3 types of things instead of the usual 20+ normally found stocked in that area. The space for paper products only had bags of dogfood stacked there.

 

[Searc]

@NYCgrrl @skyblue17 Here are today's locations...

 

[wilbret]

Went to Kroger this morning. Only thing they still don’t have is a lot of hand soap, or any hand sanitizer.

Produce and meats are stocked.
Canned goods stocked.
Breads stocked.
Paper goods partially stocked, with purchase limits.

 

[monkeydawn]

Ive got two days worth of bananas so that's likely when I am next headed to the store. Glad to see reports of stocked produce. Hoping to keep my trips to every 7-10 days for the foreseeable future. I used to go 2-3 times per week for the fresh produce.

 

[skyblue17]

I am keeping a list on my phone in the Notes section and as soon as the screen is full, I will go to the store. I have room for about five more items. Granted, these are things I WANT more than things I NEED. I could technically eat for another week if need be. It would just be a lot of Rice a Roni and processed crap and it doesn't seem like a great idea to fill up on all that if I still don't have to.

 

[kaytieeldr]

And why not just send the driver and my mom who does half the cooking? Because when mom came back our grocery bill would be through the roof - she has an impulse control issue. I would go alone with wife - but then mom would throw fits every day for the rest of the week.

You're missing an option: the two cooks shop, the driver waits in the car.

 

[NotUrsula]

Apparently the major stumbling block at keeping stores restocked is a shortage of truck drivers in some areas.

 

[billlaurie]

My husband shopped this morning at Sam's in MD. He said it was chaos. People seemed to be starting to panic more. They were only letting so many people into the store at a time and they were lined up outside like it was Black Friday. He said stuff was flying off the shelves.

 

[Elle23]

What state are you in? Location may make a difference if a lockdown is in place or imminent.

I am in Texas.

 

[MarkLT1]

Rumor has it, the Costco in Cypress California got a pallet of TP and a pallet of disinfecting wipes.. (Yes.. it keeps going.. and going... energizer bunny style.. and yes.. I know this was last week, but still...)

 

[RamblingMad]

At some point no one will need cleaner or TP.

 

[MamaLema]

Our city will probably not have normalcy for a long time. There are security limiting how many people are allowed in the store. There are strict reminders to distance yourself from your other shippers, only 1 person can put their food on the belt at a time, there are limits of 2 for any item. Today our local grocery store is installing plexiglass shields to keep their cashiers safe and cashiers have said they are required to wash their hands every 15 min.

 

[disneyseniors]

Yesterday, I was at Walmart to pick up prescriptions. My husband waited in the car. He said that a man came out of the store and passed by our car with an entire cart full of toilet paper!!!!! The only way I can figure out that he got around the 2 items only was if he had family members buying the two packages and had at least 4 of them. Then they would meet him after checking out and load his cart? This is the only way I think he could get away with it. There are signs everywhere, especially at paper good, for 2 only. Grrrrr, these hoarders are getting old!

 

[bdcp]

If people would just go back to their regular shopping, we wouldn't have this issue. My cousin manages a large grocery store in TX and they are getting regular deliveries and hiring extra stockers, but they can't keep up with the people buying multiples of everything. I've been doing my normal list every week, although I'm using pickup and it's getting hard to get a time within a few days. I'm recovering from a kne injury so I can't walk the store, but my husband goes occasionally to get bananas (if we order the give us yellow ones lol). We haven't bought toilet paper in weeks because we always have at least one pkg from Costco, if not two just from picking one up every few weeks.

What I find funny is no one ever admits that they're the ones overbuying. Some, obviously are.

 

[Elle23]

I am done going to any store for the foreseeable future. I had to go to Sam’s to return an item and it was mayhem. I was just there the day before yesterday and it was very quiet. I saw several people leaving with the precious TP in their carts so maybe that caused the surge in people.

I think we can manage for at least a week or two, thankfully.

 

[Farro]

At some point no one will need cleaner or TP.

We'll all be dead?