Hard to find items the back to school edition

[mommyoffive]

What is hard to find near you?

New things?  The same things?

What do you think will be hard to find in the next few months?

[prairiewindmomma]

On my current list from things dh didn't find this weekend:

toys (nearly bare shelves here!)

soda stream pink grapefruit syrup

the usual: hand soap, rubbing alcohol, masks, cleaning supplies (other than bleach) etc.

dill pickle slices

zinc (the supplement)

ziplock gallon sized freezer bags

Krusteez almond poppyseed muffin mix

fire roasted diced tomatoes

creamsicles

Tillamook icecream

jellybeans 

paperclips--had to hit three stores to find them--finally found them in a different TOWN!

outdoor entry rugs (the coir kind)--went to a different town

packs of men's microfiber underwear--went to a different town

 

 

[mommyoffive]

22 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

On my current list from things dh didn't find this weekend:

toys (nearly bare shelves here!)

soda stream pink grapefruit syrup

the usual: hand soap, rubbing alcohol, masks, cleaning supplies (other than bleach) etc.

dill pickle slices

zinc (the supplement)

ziplock gallon sized freezer bags

Krusteez almond poppyseed muffin mix

fire roasted diced tomatoes

creamsicles

Tillamook icecream

jellybeans 

paperclips--had to hit three stores to find them--finally found them in a different TOWN!

outdoor entry rugs (the coir kind)--went to a different town

packs of men's microfiber underwear--went to a different town

 

 

Wow that is as lot of stand all across the board.   I haven't been in a store since March.   I didn't know that toys were so hard to find.  More reason to get holiday shopping early.

[Bootsie]

My local grocery store has only one little partial aisle with school's supplies--nothing like usual where there are several seasonal aisles.  I wanted to pick up a plastic ruler--they had no rulers.

[Farrar]

Target doesn't have any more of the creamy fruit popsicles I'm obsessed with. Or any of the mint chocolate cookie ones. They've been out for weeks.

They did have puzzles, which was a shocker.

The school uniform section looked pristine - which, you have to understand, our Target is in a dense urban neighborhood. It has one of the highest sales volumes of any Target in the nation. It often looks ransacked compared to the suburban ones. So this was hilarious that it was like that, especially in a neighborhood where every school has uniforms. Obviously not a surprise though.

[Mommalongadingdong]

My stores are all pretty well stocked. I'm more surprised at what's STAYING on the shelves. Usually cute backpacks, lunch boxes, school supplies are gone so quickly - but now everything's still in stock even though its been out over a month. The Target Dollar Spot rinky dink school stuff cleared really quickly though, and our Target never seems to restock their kid's books fast enough. 

Also, some of the books I need for our curriculum sold out online or shot up in price, so I figure they know people will pay or their charter will foot the bill. But I refuse to pay $30+ for a paperback, nope! 

And my biggest gripe (which I know is letty and unjustified....) is that our library is more active than ever before, and I rarely had to put items on hold, but now it seems like everything is waitlisted. I am pleased more people are reading, but darn... 

[73349]

School supplies were easy to get (staples.com). The library situation (pick-up by appointment, no entering the building) is going to be an ongoing issue because you can only have 30 items on hold, and they count against you until you pick them up.

I still want my pizza crust mix, but I haven't noticed issues getting anything else now. I haven't tried to get hand sanitizer, disposable masks, or gloves, though.

[Emba]

Public school supply lists have disinfectant wipes on them, as they have had for years. They can’t be had for love or money. Well, actually, I have to admit I haven’t tried love. 

Wal-Mart website says they have a limited quantity at my store, but I don’t believe it, or that they’ll have them when I go. I’m not shopping at Wal-Mart right now anyway.

I went to CVS last night. They had a whole huge shelving unit with different sizes and brands of hand sanitizer; more than I’ve seen since this began.

[mmasc]

2 hours ago, whitehawk said:

School supplies were easy to get (staples.com). The library situation (pick-up by appointment, no entering the building) is going to be an ongoing issue because you can only have 30 items on hold, and they count against you until you pick them up.

I still want my pizza crust mix, but I haven't noticed issues getting anything else now. I haven't tried to get hand sanitizer, disposable masks, or gloves, though.

What crust are you having a hard time finding?

[mmasc]

1 hour ago, emba56 said:

Public school supply lists have disinfectant wipes on them, as they have had for years. They can’t be had for love or money. Well, actually, I have to admit I haven’t tried love. 

Wal-Mart website says they have a limited quantity at my store, but I don’t believe it, or that they’ll have them when I go. I’m not shopping at Wal-Mart right now anyway.

I went to CVS last night. They had a whole huge shelving unit with different sizes and brands of hand sanitizer; more than I’ve seen since this began.

I’ve noticed that lots of stores now have hand sanitizer in brands I’ve never heard of and large quantities as well. If they can get this now easily, I‘ve wondered why nobody has done this with wipes?

[73349]

🍕

Edited October 2, 2020 by Carolina Wren

[mmasc]

2 minutes ago, whitehawk said:

Bob's. I've heard it's available in other areas now, but not here. DS and DH have a frozen pizza they like, but I'm picky.

Yikes! And I’m assuming even if amazon gets that in stock on August 19, that it’s not normally $15?😳

[73349]

Amazon has had a whole lot of price gouging this whole time on things that are hard to get in stores (including their own Whole Foods).

Edited October 2, 2020 by Carolina Wren

[Lawyer&Mom]

34 minutes ago, mmasc said:

I’ve noticed that lots of stores now have hand sanitizer in brands I’ve never heard of and large quantities as well. If they can get this now easily, I‘ve wondered why nobody has done this with wipes?

Wipes require special materials for the webbed fabric.  Which is also used in PPE...  Much easier to make alcohol from scratch for hand sanitizer. 

[cjzimmer1]

41 minutes ago, mmasc said:

I’ve noticed that lots of stores now have hand sanitizer in brands I’ve never heard of and large quantities as well. If they can get this now easily, I‘ve wondered why nobody has done this with wipes?

Well you have to be careful with those off brands.  The government has issues warnings about a ton of them because they aren't safe.  

My DS works in a food testing/body products lab.  He says that have been slammed with testing ethanol(used in hand sanitizer) this summer.  He says he can now tell the different strengths by smell alone.  Anyways there is a certain type that is required for medical grade things.  That is also the grade that is normally used for hand sanitizer but because of the requirements for the medical stuff that grade is no longer available to the companies making hand sanitizer.  Apparently a lot of companies are experimenting with new formulations trying to meet the demand.

[MEmama]

Not school related but obviously more important...there’s no ice cream!! 
Last week I had to do a local grocery shop and the entire ice cream aisle was cleaned out. I bought the last 2 of 3 Ben and Jerry’s pints. 
Yesterday DH popped into the grocery and same thing, except zero pints. He bought a box of diet brand ice cream sandwich out of desperation. Lol.

[mommyoffive]

30 minutes ago, MEmama said:

Not school related but obviously more important...there’s no ice cream!! 
Last week I had to do a local grocery shop and the entire ice cream aisle was cleaned out. I bought the last 2 of 3 Ben and Jerry’s pints. 
Yesterday DH popped into the grocery and same thing, except zero pints. He bought a box of diet brand ice cream sandwich out of desperation. Lol.

I think my dh is buying it all.  😉  we have 6 to 8 big containers all the time.  We are not stockpiling it, just all the different flavors that the people in my home want. We eat way to much ice cream. 

[Farrar]

Someone pointed out to me that nearly all the recalled brands of hand sanitizer were made in Mexico... so whether it's fair or not, check the label to see where it was made. You need to be careful, but a lot of them are distilleries that made huge batches out of goodwill and had to find ways to bottle and supply it and they're totally fine. We've had weird brand hand sanitizer here for months and it's all been totally fine - I've checked the warning lists several times.

[*Jessica*]

I’m shopping for my grandparents and they needed canned diced tomatoes.  All 3 stores I checked for grocery pickup were OOS, so I gave her some from my pantry.  I’m hoping that isn’t going to be a long term shortage, because it isn’t fall until I make a pot of chili and I think I gave her my last cans.  

I haven’t had any school supplies to buy, so I’d don’t know what that situation is like here.

[73349]

47 minutes ago, MEmama said:

Not school related but obviously more important...there’s no ice cream!! 
Last week I had to do a local grocery shop and the entire ice cream aisle was cleaned out. I bought the last 2 of 3 Ben and Jerry’s pints. 
Yesterday DH popped into the grocery and same thing, except zero pints. He bought a box of diet brand ice cream sandwich out of desperation. Lol.

https://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/homemade-vanilla-ice-cream/

DH makes this. You can add in pureed strawberries, crushed Oreos, chocolate chips, whatever you want before freezing. No need for an ice cream maker. We freeze in half-pint wide-mouth jars (with lids), or sometimes in the Pyrex mixing bowl with the lid popped on.

[alisoncooks]

2 hours ago, MEmama said:

Not school related but obviously more important...there’s no ice cream!! 
Last week I had to do a local grocery shop and the entire ice cream aisle was cleaned out. I bought the last 2 of 3 Ben and Jerry’s pints. 
Yesterday DH popped into the grocery and same thing, except zero pints. He bought a box of diet brand ice cream sandwich out of desperation. Lol.

I've been trying to find Ben & Jerry's Pistachio Pistachio for weeks now. I've looked everywhere! No luck. 

[elegantlion]

hand weights. I went to Target and they had one of the weight size I want. I ordered a pair from Amazon as a warehouse restock because the regular ones weren't in stock, now the same item is out of stock until September. 

[cintinative]

1 hour ago, *Jessica* said:

I’m shopping for my grandparents and they needed canned diced tomatoes.  All 3 stores I checked for grocery pickup were OOS, so I gave her some from my pantry.  I’m hoping that isn’t going to be a long term shortage, because it isn’t fall until I make a pot of chili and I think I gave her my last cans.  

I haven’t had any school supplies to buy, so I’d don’t know what that situation is like here.

Yes, what gives with the diced tomatoes? I am having the same problem here.

[Emba]

3 hours ago, mmasc said:

I’ve noticed that lots of stores now have hand sanitizer in brands I’ve never heard of and large quantities as well. If they can get this now easily, I‘ve wondered why nobody has done this with wipes?

I’ve wondered the same thing.

[athena1277]

Other than cleaning wipes and occasionally liquid hand soap, it varies week to week what I can’t find.  It’s usually not a big deal.  Whatever I want will usually be back on the shelf in another week or so.  I just have to occasionally change what I planned to cook.  I do try to stay stocked on things like TP, but I haven’t had a problem finding any when I need it.

We started school a few weeks ago.  We haven’t had problems getting school supplies.  Our only problem was the longer shipping times on some curriculum, mostly because UPS has been beyond slow lately.

[Ali in OR]

7 hours ago, *Jessica* said:

I’m shopping for my grandparents and they needed canned diced tomatoes.  All 3 stores I checked for grocery pickup were OOS, so I gave her some from my pantry.  I’m hoping that isn’t going to be a long term shortage, because it isn’t fall until I make a pot of chili and I think I gave her my last cans.  

I haven’t had any school supplies to buy, so I’d don’t know what that situation is like here.

 

6 hours ago, cintinative said:

Yes, what gives with the diced tomatoes? I am having the same problem here.

Tomato products have been iffy all along. There's always something on the shelf here, but maybe not what you're used to or really want. We've been getting no-salt-added tomatoes for years since dh needs to watch sodium. They're almost impossible to find, except for an expensive name brand that's twice the cost of store brand. Large cans of crushed tomatoes are hard to find too. And the pizza sauce dd likes is just gone since May. They had it one week in July and I bought 3 jars, and there's been nothing since. Sometimes there is no pizza sauce of any brand; usually there is some of an off brand. I keep hoping it will get better after tomato season, but it should be better by now, right? And it isn't. I do recommend looking for tomato products every week and keep an inventory at home that you replenish.

[historically accurate]

11 hours ago, mmasc said:

I’ve noticed that lots of stores now have hand sanitizer in brands I’ve never heard of and large quantities as well. If they can get this now easily, I‘ve wondered why nobody has done this with wipes?

We finally found lots of hand sanitizer, but it smells very boozy LOL.

[iamonlyone]

Inexpensive printers! All the low-end models seem to be out of stock.

[Sk8ermaiden]

2 hours ago, iamonlyone said:

Inexpensive printers! All the low-end models seem to be out of stock.

There are no sub-$500 computers or chromebooks available in any stores. You can order them and get them, but the stores say maybe a couple come on the truck every day, and are snagged immediately. 

[KidsHappen]

Gatorade. It's my drink of choice and I haven't been able to find it in Walmart, Target, Aldi's, Kroger's, Publix, Amazon or any drugs stores for about three weeks now. I have been managing by buying a couple bottles at a time from convenience stores but it costs at least twice as much this way. I even Googled it to see if there was a reason why the sudden outage but nothing.

Also, I have had a really hard time keeping Method brand Waterfall scent foaming handsoap avaiable since this whole thing started. Apparently that is their most popular scent.

On the other hand, I have at least four difference large packages of toilet paper on the garage.

[mommyoffive]

11 hours ago, Sk8ermaiden said:

There are no sub-$500 computers or chromebooks available in any stores. You can order them and get them, but the stores say maybe a couple come on the truck every day, and are snagged immediately. 

Dh just sent me pictures of chromebooks at our Walmart on sale.  He was stuck there waiting for a prescription during a bad storm.  Printers are there too we are buying one.  Everything I hear is hard to get dh finds at our stores.  He comes back with lysol spray and wipes every week.  I guess we will keep stocking up.  He goes in the late afternoon.   Sometimes he has to ask and the go in back and get the.  So they still are not stocking the floor? He doesn't normally shop in our town because he can go to another town and hit aldi and Walmart.   We just have a Walmart.   I suspect in a week our store will be hard to get things at because the college students are moving back.   Normal years the shelves are empty when school is back, but is usually just food. 

Edited August 11, 2020 by mommyoffive

[Pippen]

Diet Dr Pepper in cans has not available for some time. It's still available in bottles, but often has been out of stock. I heard it was due to an aluminum can shortage but that's not confirmed from the company. 

I was drinking too much and needed to give it up anyway. Unlike viably recyclable aluminum, I do think twice about opening up a plastic bottle. 

 

[mommyoffive]

Rotel diced tomatoes 12 pack on Amazon for $11 right now. 

[prairiewindmomma]

We just got diced tomatoes and diet Dr Pepper cans back into stock in the last week. 
 

Mexico had a bad winter for tomatoes (rain) and then a lot of produce in the FL and CA market didn’t get picked this spring.

Diet Dr Pepper got hit by both the sweetener and the aluminum shortage. Aluminum should be in shortage for a while still, beer that usually goes out in kegs to breweries is being canned or bottled instead creating an uptick in demand. The US is actually importing recycled aluminum right now.

[prairiewindmomma]

The latest market report I read (last week) said that about 15% of product lines are missing off the shelves right now. Some brands are prioritizing their best sellers over low volume stuff, others are dealing with raw material or product shortages.

Clorox announced they expect disinfecting wipes to be in shortage until at least next year because of the spun poly fiber shortage.

 

[cintinative]

1 hour ago, Pippen said:

Diet Dr Pepper in cans has not available for some time. It's still available in bottles, but often has been out of stock.

 

 

Same with Caffeine Free Diet Coke and Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi

i really, really need to give up my diet soda habit. But I am SO in deep. At least it is the uncaffeinated so I won't get a headache when I give it up?

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Still cannot find Minute Maid lemonade in cans and now the plastic bottles are a rare find as well. We bought the new Dole Brand Lemonade in cans but DS says it's weak.

We have been able to find wipes and sanitizer (off brands of both) but have not been able to find Lysol liquid cleaner. I did notice something odd at Aldi the other day. The only sanitizer available for purchase and for use by the carts and doors was an off brand but the cashiers all had Purell sitting by the register for their use. I don't know if it means anything but I did happen to notice since Purell hasn't been on the shelves anywhere I have been.

Other products are hit and miss depending on the store. DD has tried the curb side pick up but her last two orders have been meager due to product unavailability.

[marbel]

Not what y'all are talking about really, but... a student desk.  One of my college kid's school suddenly announced they were going all online, not offering housing at all. So my kid who was getting ready to  move back to her campus apartment is staying home. She needs a desk. We went to IKEA today (along with everyone else with a student suddenly being home, it was packed) and all except the very large, very expensive desks and chairs are out of stock. We looked on Amazon, and Walmart, same thing. We have a table we can set up for her in her room, bt it's definitely suboptimal.  

[Storygirl]

54 minutes ago, The Accidental Coach said:

Still cannot find Minute Maid lemonade in cans and now the plastic bottles are a rare find as well. We bought the new Dole Brand Lemonade in cans but DS says it's weak.

We have been able to find wipes and sanitizer (off brands of both) but have not been able to find Lysol liquid cleaner. I did notice something odd at Aldi the other day. The only sanitizer available for purchase and for use by the carts and doors was an off brand but the cashiers all had Purell sitting by the register for their use. I don't know if it means anything but I did happen to notice since Purell hasn't been on the shelves anywhere I have been.

Other products are hit and miss depending on the store. DD has tried the curb side pick up but her last two orders have been meager due to product unavailability.

I suspect stores may be using large gallons of hand sanitizer to refill the Purell bottles they keep at the register.

[Lawyer&Mom]

1 hour ago, marbel said:

Not what y'all are talking about really, but... a student desk.  One of my college kid's school suddenly announced they were going all online, not offering housing at all. So my kid who was getting ready to  move back to her campus apartment is staying home. She needs a desk. We went to IKEA today (along with everyone else with a student suddenly being home, it was packed) and all except the very large, very expensive desks and chairs are out of stock. We looked on Amazon, and Walmart, same thing. We have a table we can set up for her in her room, bt it's definitely suboptimal.  

If you need some more desk inspiration:

https://stylebyemilyhenderson.com/blog/kids-desks-and-chairs
 

At least it should give you some new places to look. 

[prairiewindmomma]

3 hours ago, marbel said:

Not what y'all are talking about really, but... a student desk.  One of my college kid's school suddenly announced they were going all online, not offering housing at all. So my kid who was getting ready to  move back to her campus apartment is staying home. She needs a desk. We went to IKEA today (along with everyone else with a student suddenly being home, it was packed) and all except the very large, very expensive desks and chairs are out of stock. We looked on Amazon, and Walmart, same thing. We have a table we can set up for her in her room, bt it's definitely suboptimal.  

We've been living this since March. Two trips to IKEA this summer, nothing.  Even my dh's $1500 desk from UpLift is still on backorder.

Try amazon.  They actually have a pretty good stock right now....  Wayfair isn't bad either right now, but watch shipping dates.

 

Edited August 11, 2020 by prairiewindmomma

[mommyoffive]

3 hours ago, marbel said:

Not what y'all are talking about really, but... a student desk.  One of my college kid's school suddenly announced they were going all online, not offering housing at all. So my kid who was getting ready to  move back to her campus apartment is staying home. She needs a desk. We went to IKEA today (along with everyone else with a student suddenly being home, it was packed) and all except the very large, very expensive desks and chairs are out of stock. We looked on Amazon, and Walmart, same thing. We have a table we can set up for her in her room, bt it's definitely suboptimal.  

That is what made me start this.  I heard desks are the new toilet paper.

[Ali in OR]

8 hours ago, marbel said:

Not what y'all are talking about really, but... a student desk.  One of my college kid's school suddenly announced they were going all online, not offering housing at all. So my kid who was getting ready to  move back to her campus apartment is staying home. She needs a desk. We went to IKEA today (along with everyone else with a student suddenly being home, it was packed) and all except the very large, very expensive desks and chairs are out of stock. We looked on Amazon, and Walmart, same thing. We have a table we can set up for her in her room, bt it's definitely suboptimal.  

 

5 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

We've been living this since March. Two trips to IKEA this summer, nothing.  Even my dh's $1500 desk from UpLift is still on backorder.

Try amazon.  They actually have a pretty good stock right now....  Wayfair isn't bad either right now, but watch shipping dates.

 

Try Home Depot. We got my dd a small writing desk from there in February (how's that for timing!). We had it delivered to the store and picked it up. Assembly required, but I think that's par for the course these days. Looks like they have a variety available.

[73349]

Oh, this may have been mentioned already, but beginner-level sewing machines. Mask-making continues. DHN (dear honorary niece) has a kids' one, but it's loud, so her parents went looking for something else. Inexpensive ones are straight-up gone. (They found a mid-range option used, but even the secondhand market is pretty sparse.)

[saraha]

2 hours ago, whitehawk said:

Oh, this may have been mentioned already, but beginner-level sewing machines. Mask-making continues. DHN (dear honorary niece) has a kids' one, but it's loud, so her parents went looking for something else. Inexpensive ones are straight-up gone. (They found a mid-range option used, but even the secondhand market is pretty sparse.)

These have been gone for a while. Back in March, my sewing machine broke and the only repair outfit had closed and the owner was fixing machines in their house and had a huge waitlist. I ordered an inexpensive one from Walmart (the only online retailer to say they had one) and it took 2 months to get here, just kept getting "delayed" by the time it showed up, the repair man had reopened.