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

[Farro]

All I want to do is stock up on enough ramen to last a month, not that I even like ramen that much, but it expect it to last. I guess I can experiment with some ramen recipes while being stuck in my house as we move to indefinite work from home.

We have 72 packs for the two of us!!! I ordered 3 packs of 24 instead of one on accident.

 

[RamblingMad]

We have 72 packs for the two of us!!! I ordered 3 packs of 24 instead of one on accident.

Nice job. I'm going to an asian grocery store tomorrow to see what I can get. I expect it to be less crazy than Costco.

 

[leebee]

I think people are anticipating having to self-distance for two weeks so are stocking up so they don't have to go to the grocery store. We went for our weekly shopping today and it was pretty weird. No TP, of course, but the produce section was pretty empty and there was NO pasta on the shelves at all... or spaghetti sauce, or bread, with big empty stretches in the dairy section too- oh, and no eggs. I think people are stocking up for a 2 week social-isolation.

 

[emmabelle]

I got the last package of bacon and I was so pumped!

it may also be a good time to try some new veggies. I had a choice between okra or pearl onions in the freezer section. Decisions, decisions

 

[BrianL]

Just dide a grocery run. It wasn't too bad. Definitely sparse, but I was able to get milk, bread, even the last bag of brown rice (but there were other options). It was not crazy but they had definitely been hit hard. At least I have a little to tide me over.

 

[NYCgrrl]

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


When the last neighborhood eatery closes down temporarily and people actually have to eat at home.

 

[kdonnel]

3-6 months.

First we will have to go through the phase where only some gas stations and grocery stores are open. All other business will be closed.

 

[Heather07438]

So far my local ShopRite was stocked normally last Saturday when I shopped. Usually I go every 10 days but since our schools are closing for the first day on Monday, maybe it will (or has already) hit here too.

So I'm going now and will report back later I still need TP because I haqven't bought since early Feb and am down to our last squares, lol.

 

[NotUrsula]

I went to Sam's last night and it was the worst I've ever seen a store, and have lots of hurricane prep experience. There were literally so many shoppers in the store that the entire supply of carts was in use, even the big flats that are normally reserved for those buying lawn furniture or TVs. I'm going to say it will take at least two weeks to get that store fully restocked. They were making loudspeaker announcements that no toilet paper was scheduled for delivery until the 18th.

 

[cats mom]

Went to my local grocery store last night. Every register was open, but only one line, with an employee directing people when they got to the front. I've never seen anything like it. The line was crazy long, most people had overflowing carts, and there were lots of empty shelves.

A young couple in the canned goods aisle asked me what condensed meant, and wanted to know if that kind of soup was good to eat.
I glanced at all the bottled water in their cart and told them it was just fine.

I only needed a couple of things so I was able to breeze in and out through express checkout easily.
I'll go back for a regular shopping run when it isn't so crazy. I'm thinking things should calm down in the next week or two.
Hope I end up being right.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I don’t know but I am out of maple syrup and I am not willing to face the crowds today.

SIMPLE MAPLE SYRUP
2 cups white sugar
1 cup boiling water
½ tsp maple flavored extract
In a saucepan, combine sugar and water. Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and stir in maple flavoring. Serve warm.
Nutrition Facts
Per Serving: 259 calories;
0 g fat;
66.7 g carbohydrates;
0 g protein;
0 mg cholesterol;
< 1 mg sodium.

 

[sailorstitch]

We went to Wal-Mart and IGA today. Both were better stocked than I was expecting. I picked up one or two extras of a few things, but not 2 weeks worth. They had some TP, but we don't need any right now. Wipes were sold out. I was quite surprised that I found all the frozen foods I wanted. The only thing we needed that was sold out was kitten food. The cat food section was well stocked except for the kitten food.

I was able to finally get Frozen II on DVD at Wal-Mart! I normally pick up the DVDs the Sat after they're released. By Sat that week, the DVD was sold out. They only had Blu-ray and 4k.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I don’t know but I am out of maple syrup and I am not willing to face the crowds today.

You could just use some fruit preserves or jam thinned with a little hot water. Want more sugar? Sprinkle w/ powdered /10x sugar.

 

[RamblingMad]

Costco delivers maple syrup. And it's good.

 

[Colleen27]

This isn’t meant as a harsh or judgmental statement, but people can’t afford to keep panic buying. We are seeing and hearing of people with full cartloads of grocery items having credit cards declined and having to leave it all. Our budgets aren’t flexible enough for us to binge shop like some people are doing. I asked my checker about what they were seeing last week- she said she Shipt delivered 6 cases of water to a family that week (in a metro area) and when they opened the door to take delivery, they already had more than twice that stacked up in their entryway. >18 cases of water??? At some point, people will run out of space, money or both.

And eBay and Amazon are doing a good job of shutting down the profiteers, so as word gets out about that, those buying primarily for resale are likely to slow down or stop when they realize they'll only be able to sell locally (FB marketplace is still allowing those sales, as far as I can tell, but who wants their friends to know they're doing that?!).

Within a week or two would be my bet. People freaked out. They were being told they may have to quarantine for 2 weeks. Then families were told the kids will be home for an extended period of time. Things were changing. Normal was no longer normal. So people panicked. Once things calm down some, people will adjust to a new normal.

And there are a lot of rumors flying about needing to be prepared for much, much longer - social media posts claiming the CDC is recommending people prepare for being unable to leave the house for 30 days or 8 weeks, panic over media headlines that Italy, France, Spain have shut down "all businesses" because people don't click on the article to see that they exempted groceries and pharmacies, etc. But eventually the fact-checkers and the calmer voices will be heard over the noise, at least by the majority of people, and those fears will be less acute than right now when misinformation seems to dominate the venues by which most people get their news.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think it will vary depending on areas. Some places that have seen a lot of cases may be able to return to normal earlier than places that are just now starting to be hit.

FWIW Walmart announced today that all their locations are shifting hours to 6am-11pm so they can use the overnight hours to restock and clean. Other grocerers have shortened their hours as well.

My best friend works at Target in a college town near me. Her comment on FB today was "Put in an 11hour day of OT to help my team and the store get throught the madness and today's truck"

So stores seem to be really trying to work on restocking the shelves--restocked shelves are def. a step in the direction of normalcy. Restocked shelves might also help reduce the amount of people who feel that psychological pull to purchase items that are on low supply because they won't be so low in supply anymore "well if other people are buying it maybe I need to buy it". Dunno how many that will work with though lol.

 

[Heather07438]

So far my local ShopRite was stocked normally last Saturday when I shopped. Usually I go every 10 days but since our schools are closing for the first day on Monday, maybe it will (or has already) hit here too.

So I'm going now and will report back later I still need TP because I haqven't bought since early Feb and am down to our last squares, lol.

Back from the store. What was empty?

Paper Goods aisle wiped out. No bananas left. Half & Half fridge empty. Frozen meat sparse but plenty of fresh meat. Sale frozen veggies all completely gone but plenty full price bags to be had.

Everything else... stocked. This is my local ShopRite, life as usual. Maybe the wholesale clubs are attracting the loons but people are behaving pretty normal by me. We're close to the outbreak in Westchester NY but surprisingly nobody's losing their minds.

 

[Heather07438]

I think it will vary depending on areas. Some places that have seen a lot of cases may be able to return to normal earlier than places that are just now starting to be hit.

FWIW Walmart announced today that all their locations are shifting hours to 6am-11pm so they can use the overnight hours to restock and clean. Other grocerers have shortened their hours as well.

My best friend works at Target in a college town near me. Her comment on FB today was "Put in an 11hour day of OT to help my team and the store get throught the madness and today's truck"

So stores seem to be really trying to work on restocking the shelves--restocked shelves are def. a step in the direction of normalcy. Restocked shelves might also help reduce the amount of people who feel that psychological pull to purchase items that are on low supply because they won't be so low in supply anymore "well if other people are buying it maybe I need to buy it". Dunno how many that will work with though lol.

Good point. Empty shelves would feed the feelings of panic. It's great that stores are keeping up. It's one less thing we need to feel insecure about in this moment.

 

[sasywtch]

Safeway had a lot of tp yesterday, today none. Wal-Mart had no tp, no bags at checkout a nd as I was checking out, a worker asked for my cart for a new customer. Their frozen veggies were mostly gone but other things seem to be okay (minus my cabbage LOL)

 

[HerRoyalHighness]

I was at Costco yesterday morning, the one off Mall Road in Florence. It was very busy, but not the sense of sheer panic as Wednesday night at Kroger. There was the longest line I'd ever seen to check out, but it moved quickly. I went for meat, I love Costco meat, and they were out of chicken! Never saw that before. They had water, but out of TP and Clorox wipes which I didn't need --but people were notified when going in they didn't have them in stock.

I'm off I-71 near Louisville. I went Thursday morning to return some stuff at ours. Went in for a couple non-TP or cleaner things. Oh the lines to check out! Moved fast. Our schools announced closing Thursday afternoon (Boone was before that, right?) So Friday was the crazy day. Our groceries were kind of picked over but they're starting to catch back up with the restocking.