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

[Searc]

@skyblue17 and @NYCgrrl If you know anyone in need around the NYC area, please share this with them. World Central Kitchen is an AMAZING organization that seems to fly under the radar.

 

[Farro]

Went to Mariano's today (Chicago).

Everything pretty well stocked except toilet paper and bread. There was bread, but only the healthy stuff!

 

[fla4fun]

My Publix was fairly empty of product this morning. I made a final trip since at this time I have exactly 15 more WFH days to get through, so if by some chance I got exposed today I would find out before going back to work. I found everything I was looking for, but not necessarily the brands or type. For example, I only had one pound of butter left, so I wanted one more and there were exactly three of the higher fat European butter left and no other butter or margarine. Since the only canned milk left was low fat, I figure when I combine the two in cooking it will cancel each other out. I did only buy one butter and two cans of milk. There was still some bread, and frozen meats like chicken tenders, but only steaks and some sausage in fresh meat. Produce was at least half gone. And the surprise of the day, no birthday cake! My birthday is next week so I was hoping to get a cake. I had to settle for birthday cupcakes instead - again, a variation on what I wanted. On the plus side, I now have my hurricane non perishable foods and bottled water stocked, provided we aren’t kept indoors for a couple months or more. I am eating fresh food first, then frozen, then non- perishable. I also picked up some natural gummy vitamins, since I know my diet won’t be as well rounded as normal, and laundry detergent, which there was still plenty of. I have trouble swallowing pills without choking, so I am glad gummies are an option!

I hope the stores can refill as quickly as they do after a hurricane. It usually takes a couple weeks to return to normal after a storm if the power is on. At some point there will be a light at the end of the tunnel and people won’t hoard so much and the stores can restock properly.

 

[Hikergirl]

I ordered some groceries delivered from Target today and when my shopper was there she said they were stocking some paper towels and toilet paper so I had her grab me some, it wasn't in stock when I originally made the order.
I also did an online store pick-up at the grocery store, they also had some TP in stock but I cancelled it since I got it from Target.
Alot of my items had to be substituted but I'm pretty well stocked for a week and a half. Not as much meat or veggies that I would normally have, but nobody here will be hungry.

 

[Tink9721]

I didn't read the whole thread so not sure if anyone else has talked about this, but one thing that's baffling me right now is the people who are still bringing their whole family to the grocery store. Why does it take more than one person to buy groceries? I went to the store on Monday afternoon, and saw so many couples shopping together, couples with multiple children, etc. I saw one couple with a baby - mom was pushing the baby in an umbrella stroller and coughing right into her hand

I understand if there are single parents with young kids who don't have another option, but in most cases I don't know why one family member can't do the shopping alone. I realize that if mom or dad catches the virus at the store the whole family will get it anyway, but that's not the point - we're supposed to be avoiding crowds, and people are making the stores so much more crowded than they need to be.

 

[fla4fun]

I didn't read the whole thread so not sure if anyone else has talked about this, but one thing that's baffling me right now is the people who are still bringing their whole family to the grocery store. Why does it take more than one person to buy groceries? I went to the store on Monday afternoon, and saw so many couples shopping together, couples with multiple children, etc. I saw one couple with a baby - mom was pushing the baby in an umbrella stroller and coughing right into her hand

I understand if there are single parents with young kids who don't have another option, but in most cases I don't know why one family member can't do the shopping alone. I realize that if mom or dad catches the virus at the store the whole family will get it anyway, but that's not the point - we're supposed to be avoiding crowds, and people are making the stores so much more crowded than they need to be.

I went through this today. The husband would stand on one side of the aisle while the wife shopped on the other side, so you couldn’t pass without violating the distance requirements. It was frustrating to have to turn around in almost every aisle because of this.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I didn't read the whole thread so not sure if anyone else has talked about this, but one thing that's baffling me right now is the people who are still bringing their whole family to the grocery store. Why does it take more than one person to buy groceries? I went to the store on Monday afternoon, and saw so many couples shopping together, couples with multiple children, etc. I saw one couple with a baby - mom was pushing the baby in an umbrella stroller and coughing right into her hand

I understand if there are single parents with young kids who don't have another option, but in most cases I don't know why one family member can't do the shopping alone. I realize that if mom or dad catches the virus at the store the whole family will get it anyway, but that's not the point - we're supposed to be avoiding crowds, and people are making the stores so much more crowded than they need to be.

My husband and I were out last Thursday when it was a made rush to get stuff in our metro. With the amount of stuff we got that would feed us more than we ordinarily would buy (as we usually only buy for several meals worth at a time) it would have take so much longer to do that meaning that much more time for exposure. It already took long enough hunting through the aisles and shelves.

While my husband was getting the items I was marking them off the list and using the Walmart app to locate where other items were located at. And for certain things he went to get something while I went to get something else. Our Walmart is majority self-checkout now so it also sped up the time to bag the groceries. That day we went it wouldn't have matter if you were single or not no one was keeping distance because everyone showed up that day trying to get stuff.

 

[fla4fun]

Went to Mariano's today (Chicago).

Everything pretty well stocked except toilet paper and bread. There was bread, but only the healthy stuff!

My store didn’t have a ton of bread, but the most well stocked single variety? Pepperidge Farm Cinnamon Raisin bread! Tons of that available.

 

[Farro]

I didn't read the whole thread so not sure if anyone else has talked about this, but one thing that's baffling me right now is the people who are still bringing their whole family to the grocery store. Why does it take more than one person to buy groceries? I went to the store on Monday afternoon, and saw so many couples shopping together, couples with multiple children, etc. I saw one couple with a baby - mom was pushing the baby in an umbrella stroller and coughing right into her hand

I understand if there are single parents with young kids who don't have another option, but in most cases I don't know why one family member can't do the shopping alone. I realize that if mom or dad catches the virus at the store the whole family will get it anyway, but that's not the point - we're supposed to be avoiding crowds, and people are making the stores so much more crowded than they need to be.

I went through this today. The husband would stand on one side of the aisle while the wife shopped on the other side, so you couldn’t pass without violating the distance requirements. It was frustrating to have to turn around in almost every aisle because of this.

We walk to our grocery store, so he needs to help me carry things if we are buying a lot(unless it's a smaller trip, then I can go myself) or I would have to make more than one trip. We had no issue staying away from people, (although people seemed to have no issue piling on top of the other).

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I went through this today. The husband would stand on one side of the aisle while the wife shopped on the other side, so you couldn’t pass without violating the distance requirements. It was frustrating to have to turn around in almost every aisle because of this.

My husband went to get coffee last night and the store was somewhat busy but nothing like last Thursday. He said he kept running into people that would be browsing but not keeping a distance from him. He was the one looking out around him but others seemed kinda oblivious and he didn't see anyone with those people either.

IDK that it has a ton to do with how many people in one family go or if it's just there will be folks who don't keep a distance even if they can. Obviously kids can become harder to corral to stay closer to the loved ones and farther away from others.

 

[fla4fun]

We walk to our grocery store, so he needs to help me carry things if we are buying a lot(unless it's a smaller trip, then I can go myself) or I would have to make more than one trip. We had no issue staying away from people, (although people seemed to have no issue piling on top of the other).

That makes sense if you have to walk. But why can’t both parties stand on the same side of the aisle to allow enough space for people to pass? There is a retirement community behind our Publix, so we get a higher than normal number of elderly shoppers. But the people who were doing this weren’t elderly shoppers. I was trying so hard to be considerate of everyone’s space because of the seniors, and it was irritating to me that not everyone was.

 

[Searc]

My store didn’t have a ton of bread, but the most well stocked single variety? Pepperidge Farm Cinnamon Raisin bread! Tons of that available.

That's because raisins are evil.

 

[Searc]

My husband went to get coffee last night and the store was somewhat busy but nothing like last Thursday. He said he kept running into people that would be browsing but not keeping a distance from him. He was the one looking out around him but others seemed kinda oblivious and he didn't see anyone with those people either.

IDK that it has a ton to do with how many people in one family go or if it's just there will be folks who don't keep a distance even if they can. Obviously kids can become harder to corral to stay closer to the loved ones and farther away from others.

I knew RBF would pay off someday!

 

[skyblue17]

I popped into our Key Food, since I did end up going to Ample Hills to get some pre-packed pints lest they not return from this.

There is plenty of food on the shelves, though the pasta and rice shelves are a bit picked over. They had a ton of my cold brew, which is why I went in to begin with (the store closer to my house doesn't have the space to stock more than 5 bottles at a time, so hasn't had any out) and had plenty of fresh meat (got two NY strips! that'll taste good tomorrow).

But yeah, keeping away from people is impossible in there. NYC markets already have very narrow aisles, and now almost everyone is using carts (we are often basket folks) and a lot of people are lingering trying to figure out if/what they want. It's kind of a lost cause to stay as far as we are supposed to, but I did my best and passed quickly when not possible. And now, I really do NOT need to go to the store again for awhile.

 

[fla4fun]

That's because raisins are evil.

I don’t mind them in some things, but wouldn’t want to make a ham or tuna sandwich on raisin bread.

 

[NotUrsula]

I finally managed to get rice today, after looking for it starting last Friday, when we ran clean out. I even went to 3 markets in Chinatown looking for it, but the only rice they still had in stock was broken sweet rice for making desserts. (One of those stores is a major Asian foods supermarket the size of a small Walmart. They normally keep over 5 *tons* of rice on pallets on the floor on a normal day, but the pallets were gone.)

I had insider info today because DH was in Sam's Club on Friday and overheard a stocker tell someone that a shipment was due in this morning. I stopped on my way to work and found three pallets of rice going fast. 2 pallets were #50 sacks, one was stacked with #25. I took one of the smaller ones as there are only 3 of us at home now. (We eat a fair amount of rice normally, but expect to eat more in the near future because meat is difficult to find around here, but fish is plentiful, and rice of one sort or another is our usual side dish with fish.)

 

[Mom2Stitch]

My store didn’t have a ton of bread, but the most well stocked single variety? Pepperidge Farm Cinnamon Raisin bread! Tons of that available.

With the cinnamon cream cheese spread-I could live off of that lol

 

[fla4fun]

With the cinnamon cream cheese spread-I could live off of that lol

Sorry, no cream cheese of any variety left . . .

 

[Skywalker]

You notice the part where I said my kids might need as well? 4 packages of toilet paper went to 4 different homes, they are not all sitting in my garage.

No I didn't miss it - there were 4 packages of toilet paper on the shelf and you took all 4 of them, because your kids "might" need as well. I am sure there were plenty of people shopping that did need some, maybe desperately. I could see buying for yourself and maybe one extra just in case, but all 4? Sorry I am just getting so fed up with selfish people. The reason why your kids can't just go to the store and buy toilet paper whenever they want to is because of people like you clearing the shelves!

This is just really bothering me because of what I witnessed the other day - I saw an elderly lady, probably in her 80s, nearly with tears in her eyes about how she was out of toilet paper. She had taken a taxi to Walmart for the 3rd time that week to try and buy some and now she couldn't afford another trip and she didn't know what she was going to do.

That's RIDICULOUS. There isn't a toilet paper (or food) shortage. There is just a selfish population problem. Just buy what you need and let everyone else do the same, as normal, and there would be no problem!

 

[skyblue17]

No I didn't miss it - there were 4 packages of toilet paper on the shelf and you took all 4 of them, because your kids "might" need as well. I am sure there were plenty of people shopping that did need some, maybe desperately. I could see buying for yourself and maybe one extra just in case, but all 4? Sorry I am just getting so fed up with selfish people. The reason why your kids can't just go to the store and buy toilet paper whenever they want to is because of people like you clearing the shelves!

This is just really bothering me because of what I witnessed the other day - I saw an elderly lady, probably in her 80s, nearly with tears in her eyes about how she was out of toilet paper. She had taken a taxi to Walmart for the 3rd time that week to try and buy some and now she couldn't afford another trip and she didn't know what she was going to do.

That's RIDICULOUS. There isn't a toilet paper (or food) shortage. There is just a selfish population problem. Just buy what you need and let everyone else do the same, as normal, and there would be no problem!

We ended up mailing a friend of ours who lives in Virginia some toilet paper because she was sick with the (regular) flu at the time everyone was stocking up on stuff and by the time she could get to the store, there was none left. Another friend mailed her Clorox wipes for the same reason. It took three days to get to her, and she was on the last of her final roll and was about to start her period. I'm so glad we were able to get some for her! Taking the last of what's on the shelves just in case is something everyone should avoid.