State of the stores: November 2020

[frogger]

I appreciate the sentiment but I have a large family (well we aren't the Duggars) and I think there are few who can't survive off 1 Costco size pack of TP for some time. 

 

I'd be tempted to shout out, "Y'all gonna need some plungers with that!"

I can't fathom the obsession with t.p. You can survive without t.p.  Now it is a little more nerve racking with food and a big family. When stores limited meat buying to two packages I remember buying 2 packages of breakfast links thinking, whelp now I get to shop before each meal. 😂  

[Tenaj]

42 minutes ago, frogger said:

I appreciate the sentiment but I have a large family (well we aren't the Duggars) and I think there are few who can't survive off 1 Costco size pack of TP for some time. 

 

I'd be tempted to shout out, "Y'all gonna need some plungers with that!"

I can't fathom the obsession with t.p. You can survive without t.p.  Now it is a little more nerve racking with food and a big family. When stores limited meat buying to two packages I remember buying 2 packages of breakfast links thinking, whelp now I get to shop before each meal. 😂  

Yes, meat is what I worry about.  I noticed the hamburger case was getting low yesterday at Sam's so I picked up two packs and then a third.  I left the chicken alone.  I hope I don't end up regretting that . . .

[prairiewindmomma]

Dh went to Costco last night. He found toilet paper and paper towels for the first time in a month at Costco. (A flat lasts about a month for us, even with a bidet and cloth towels on hand with normal use.) Stock was low, but there was something. He also found parchment paper. He grabbed the last package of ground beef. 

My online order from Target yesterday was missing items. Still haven’t found an online shopping experience that results in me getting what I need.

[frogger]

8 minutes ago, Margaret in CO said:

If possible (access and storage) I'd encourage all to think about local sourcing their meat. With the beef packers in the US being monopolies, the famer/rancher is getting very little for his/her product. Consider splitting a half with another family. We've moved more and more into butchering and selling straight to people--we make way more than when we send cattle to the feedlot. If you have a CSA, they may be able to hook you up with a farmer who does this. Thanks. 

Well, I tried to get a bison this spring but they were gone. All the local places were completely wiped out. Some said we could get on a list for their next season. Lol 

[Amy in NH]

I was in one of the two Sam's Clubs in my state on Monday - no tp.

[Amy in NH]

26 minutes ago, Margaret in CO said:

If possible (access and storage) I'd encourage all to think about local sourcing their meat. With the beef packers in the US being monopolies, the famer/rancher is getting very little for his/her product. Consider splitting a half with another family. We've moved more and more into butchering and selling straight to people--we make way more than when we send cattle to the feedlot. If you have a CSA, they may be able to hook you up with a farmer who does this. Thanks. 

Sounds great in theory, but the price is always so high for local meat that we'd be forced to forgo.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Dh went to Costco twice before he could snag some tp.  Timing is everything.  He didn't go to hoard - we were just due to replenish our supply.

 

[Carrie12345]

2 hours ago, Ali in OR said:

Toilet paper aisle at Winco was fine yesterday. We were running out in both bathrooms (and will restock from the garage), so I got two more 8-packs to refill garage stock. An 8-pack lasts us about 8 weeks--I can't imagine stocking up with 4 Costco-size packs. That would be a multi-year supply here.

I haven’t spent much time inside stores to see what the stock looks like, but we’ve pretty much had Limit-1 this whole time. So I’ve put 1 TP in my order one week, 1 paper towel in my order the next week, and basically kept doing that for most of the year. It hasn’t created a HUGE stockpile, but enough that I can’t relate to the idea of having to grab 4 at a time!

As an aside, toilet paper comes in ridiculous sizes these days.   With our bathroom set ups, I much prefer a standard sized roll (which generally seems to be labeled “double”, which I guess is a hold over from ages ago) to the never-ending mega rolls that look like they could service a public bathroom.  So we definitely go through a roll at a faster pace than people who keep a whole tree trunk next to their toilet. 😉   I think I’m scarred from years of toddlers throwing entire rolls into toilets.

[frogger]

22 minutes ago, Margaret in CO said:

Yeah, it's not like they can just whip up more product! Thank you for trying. Interested in yak?

Are you set up to sell across state lines? I can talk to my husband. Local is expensive enough. I can't imagine adding shipping to Alaska. 

[itsheresomewhere]

My neighbor is reporting a windex shortage here. She has been to 5 stores so far and no windex. 

[prairiewindmomma]

1 hour ago, frogger said:

Well, I tried to get a bison this spring but they were gone. All the local places were completely wiped out. Some said we could get on a list for their next season. Lol 

This was us. Waitlist is years long.

[prairiewindmomma]

Earlier this summer, our Costco had only industrial rolls—like the kind you find in public buildings. We actually contemplated buying one, the price for the holder isn’t too bad. If we get desperate this winter....
 

https://www.amazon.com/Palmer-Fixture-RD0026-02-Dispenser-Translucent/dp/B00HNHR5LU/ref=mp_s_a_1_13?dchild=1&keywords=commercial+toilet+paper+holder&qid=1605295479&sr=8-13

[Lady Marmalade]

Our stores have mostly been normal here in NE Wisconsin.  TP is stocked, just maybe not with the usual packages.  I have a nice stockpile so I haven't really been looking lately, though I do look down the aisle to see if our preferred brand is available in a bigger package.  No luck on that so far.

But yesterday I went to Sam's Club to pick up just a few things, and when I walked in the dairy cooler, I saw that there was literally no gallons of dairy milk.  None.  Also, there was no salted butter.  I saw the lack of salted butter and milk, and decided I better grab two packages of unsalted butter, just in case. 

Now I'm curious about the Windex.  I need some at church, so I'll be looking for that soon. 

 

[mommyoffive]

7 minutes ago, Lady Marmalade said:

Our stores have mostly been normal here in NE Wisconsin.  TP is stocked, just maybe not with the usual packages.  I have a nice stockpile so I haven't really been looking lately, though I do look down the aisle to see if our preferred brand is available in a bigger package.  No luck on that so far.

But yesterday I went to Sam's Club to pick up just a few things, and when I walked in the dairy cooler, I saw that there was literally no gallons of dairy milk.  None.  Also, there was no salted butter.  I saw the lack of salted butter and milk, and decided I better grab two packages of unsalted butter, just in case. 

Now I'm curious about the Windex.  I need some at church, so I'll be looking for that soon. 

 

Whoa, the no milk scares me.

[Tenaj]

36 minutes ago, Lady Marmalade said:

Our stores have mostly been normal here in NE Wisconsin.  TP is stocked, just maybe not with the usual packages.  I have a nice stockpile so I haven't really been looking lately, though I do look down the aisle to see if our preferred brand is available in a bigger package.  No luck on that so far.

But yesterday I went to Sam's Club to pick up just a few things, and when I walked in the dairy cooler, I saw that there was literally no gallons of dairy milk.  None.  Also, there was no salted butter.  I saw the lack of salted butter and milk, and decided I better grab two packages of unsalted butter, just in case. 

Now I'm curious about the Windex.  I need some at church, so I'll be looking for that soon. 

 

I forgot about the butter and the milk.  Yes, butter was really low last week at Sam's and so was milk.  I had no problem at other stores though.

[Jean in Newcastle]

2 hours ago, itsheresomewhere said:

My neighbor is reporting a windex shortage here. She has been to 5 stores so far and no windex. 

https://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-windex-73104#activity-feed

And that's just the first recipe that came up for  homemade window cleaner.  It's really easy to make. 

[Wheres Toto]

On 11/3/2020 at 2:34 PM, Pen said:

We were out of milk and bread so I put in an online order for those and other things at same time. It was patchy, but not more so than all summer (unless it turns out more runs out before arrival time).  Things like exact bread son wanted not available but another semi acceptable was. Lactose free milk that I wanted and cheese limited to 1 or 2 per person. No grapefruit that I wanted, but another option was...  My preferred back up if Fuji apples were out apparently not available. ...

 

3 Seconds after or 30 minutes after?   Some title like that about life after a electronic pulse ?  (Can’t recall details), I think did more realistically deal with outages of everything ...  but still TP maybe not high on list 😄

 

One second after is the name of a dystopian novel.  There's a sequel, One Year After. 

No Bounty paper towels and limits on all brands at our local Walmart. 

[Arcadia]

6 hours ago, BlsdMama said:

Costco yesterday - no TP and no paper towels.
 

No Kirkland brand TP or paper towels. People end up buying the Cottonelle TP if they need any. We don’t use paper towels so I didn’t notice what was the brand left available. 

Target is out of toilet paper often but our local grocers do have decent supply. 

5 hours ago, JanOH said:

Yes, meat is what I worry about.  I noticed the hamburger case was getting low yesterday at Sam's so I picked up two packs and then a third.  I left the chicken alone.  I hope I don't end up regretting that . . .

We won’t able to get any inorganic chicken often but there is usually organic chicken left so at times we just pay more for organic. 

[Pen]

 

Quote

I never around about this in dystopian novels!! 😂

 

I was replying to the OP. 😉
@DorothyNJ  One Second After  is the title I was thinking of , yes. 😃 Thanks. 
 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by Pen

[Pen]

Sign on door of an independent non chain store today in a “liberal” city in Oregon I went into, not far from a big university. The sign asked people to please use masks as per state mandate because it is a small business already hurting, and they don’t want to be closed down.

My guess is that such a sign indicates trouble with compliance. 

 

[frogger]

Turkeys were pretty wiped out here at Costco so I might try to get mine sooner than later.  I was going to get one at another store.

[easypeasy]

It's getting sparse here too. Milk is constantly sold out at my regular grocery store (what?) and the bread I like most is also rarely in stock anymore. TP and paper towels have been easy to come by - but now we're back to weirdly named/packaged tp, if any.

I haven't been able to purchase Lysol at all during this whole pandemic.

Luckily, I triple-bought bleach-based cleaners and other cleaners while they were available, because those are also hard to find once again.j

And I also over-stocked in hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes (one container at a time, lol!)

[prairiewindmomma]

I broke my no in-person shopping rule and went to Winco to get stuff for Thanksgiving early. The store was fairly well stocked. They had tp, paper towels, dish soap, etc. They had some notices up about national shortages, but I got every single item on my list.

OTOH, it was like day before Thanksgiving crazy busy. The line wrapped all the way to the back of the store and kept on wrapping around. The aisles were crowded. 
 

I don’t know that that was a great decision on my part, but I have a turkey for Thanksgiving and a ham for Christmas in case I don’t make it back out again. With online orders as sketchy as they have been, I wanted to make sure I had the basics on hand. I can be flexible with the rest.

I think there’s fear about lockdown again in our area. Hospitals are canceling elective procedures and people are nervous.

[Ali in OR]

Does anyone do their grocery shopping at night? Not super late, I was thinking about 8:00. Just wondering if shelves tend to be wiped out from the afternoon/dinner hour crowds, or if they restock and you can get what you need at that hour. In general--I realize that will be different in different places. Like I know if I go pretty early in the morning, there are pallets everywhere and they're busy stocking. And some items might be out.

[Clemsondana]

I'm in TN...10 days ago I went to Sam's and it seemed normal, although frozen chicken and burgers were limited to 2 each.  I didn't check the fresh meat or TP.  They didn't have my salmon burgers, but that's sort of hit and miss anyway and may be seasonal.  They certainly had plenty of food and there weren't empty spaces.  Yesterday I went to Trader Joes and they were fully stocked...actually, they were stocking when I was there.  Milk, juice, and meat were full.  They were low on the free range eggs but had plenty of eggs if you didn't want that one brand/type (it's a different supplier so I'm guessing they just needed to restock).  In this area I can imagine people choosing to stay home a lot more but I would not expect that there would be another shut down, so I'm guessing that we won't see much panic-buying because people aren't worried that they won't be able to get out and get more of what they need.  And, as I said earlier, a lot of people here already get local meat and at this point the limiting factor is butcher capacity.  We've got our 1/2 beef coming next week and our 1/2 pig in February. 

[Arcadia]

7 minutes ago, Ali in OR said:

Does anyone do their grocery shopping at night? Not super late, I was thinking about 8:00. Just wondering if shelves tend to be wiped out from the afternoon/dinner hour crowds, or if they restock and you can get what you need at that hour. In general--I realize that will be different in different places. Like I know if I go pretty early in the morning, there are pallets everywhere and they're busy stocking. And some items might be out.

I do since my local Safeway close at 11pm. The Costco, Trader Joe’s and Safeway that I go to all restock in the evening from their back rooms but sometimes they run out of certain items.

We left Costco at close to 9pm yesterday and they were restocking.

We tend to go to Trader Joe’s an hour after they open so that their shelves has been partially restocked and the popular items aren’t gone yet.

[frogger]

Not a stocking issue, but people in my stores have been super friendly. Today I had 4 very short chats 1-2 minutes with complete strangers from a distance.  The sample lady talked longer. They are bored out of their mind without so much cooking, cutting, etc. Makes for a long shift so she was happy to chat longer! 

[prairiewindmomma]

We’ve tried going at night. Our Winco’s produce is wiped out by the end of rush hour and isn’t restocked until about 6:30am. Our Costco will be wiped out in the bakery and in the meat section, but dairy and paper goods will be restocked. Our Walmart seems much the same, but it is a small mart and great for picking up the odd item, not for a full shop. Our Albertson’s goes to low staffing after 7pm, as long as you are willing to self check and don’t need the meat counter, it’s ok, but their produce is always lousy....it’s like our Walmart and Target—good for an odd item but not a full shop. Our grocery outlet stores are in sketchy neighborhoods—they are no-go after dark unless you take an older vehicle. (Seriously, people have had their catalytic converters stolen while they shop!)

 

[marbel]

1 hour ago, Ali in OR said:

Does anyone do their grocery shopping at night? Not super late, I was thinking about 8:00. Just wondering if shelves tend to be wiped out from the afternoon/dinner hour crowds, or if they restock and you can get what you need at that hour. In general--I realize that will be different in different places. Like I know if I go pretty early in the morning, there are pallets everywhere and they're busy stocking. And some items might be out.

My daughter and I decided to try to go to Wegman's at about 9pm the other day. Wegman's is a chain based on the east coast, very nice stores, some thing very expensive but others extremely reasonable, such as insanely good hummus in lots of varieties, and basic cheeses (cheddar, swiss, not the fine cheese area but grocery store cheese if you know what I mean) and beans at Aldi prices. We had a few things we specifically wanted to get there, but it has been so stressful shopping there lately - so crowded, aisles blocked by stockers, etc. 

Anyway, at 9pm the store was great. No crowds, no stockers in the aisles either. We found everything we wanted (though we were not looking for meat) and were in and out quickly.

BTW I appreciate the stockers being active in the stores, keeping the shelves full. It's just stressful trying to maneuver around them while keeping 6 feet away from everyone else, and getting things from shelves that are blocked. 

[kbutton]

5 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

https://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-windex-73104#activity-feed

And that's just the first recipe that came up for  homemade window cleaner.  It's really easy to make. 

Norwex window cloths require only water and are fabulous! I haven't used them on grimy windows, just moderately clean ones and lots of bathroom mirrors. https://shopus.norwex.biz/en_US/customer/shop/product-detail/1914

[itsheresomewhere]

7 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

https://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-windex-73104#activity-feed

And that's just the first recipe that came up for  homemade window cleaner.  It's really easy to make. 

Thanks.  She is set in her ways on Windex.  Nothing else works according to her. 

[Shoeless]

5 hours ago, Ali in OR said:

Does anyone do their grocery shopping at night? Not super late, I was thinking about 8:00. Just wondering if shelves tend to be wiped out from the afternoon/dinner hour crowds, or if they restock and you can get what you need at that hour. In general--I realize that will be different in different places. Like I know if I go pretty early in the morning, there are pallets everywhere and they're busy stocking. And some items might be out.

Yes, I go in the evening.  In my area, the stores are pretty empty of people around 8pm.  I've also noticed that the people *in my area* who go to the store late at night are more likely to be wearing masks correctly and social distancing. I'm not sure why that is, but it's a weird thing I've noticed when I go at 8pm or later vs when I go earlier.  My store does a really good job of restocking during the day and does not bring out the pallets for restocking until 10pm.  I am generally able to get everything that I need when I go in the evening or even right before close.

Edited November 14, 2020 by MissLemon

[Shoeless]

I got back from HEB (Texas grocery chain) a few hours ago.  The only things that were sparse were tp and paper towels. I could get disinfecting wipes if I wanted them, Clorox, hand sanitizer, hand soap, etc. The only limits they have are on wipes, tp, paper towels, and disinfecting sprays.  Milk case and the meat cases were full.  The only thing I've had trouble getting lately is diet Dr. Pepper, but that's a supplier issue and not a stocking issue. 

Those that shop at Costco, do you have other stores you can try? It seems like a lot of people around the country have had consistent trouble getting supplies at Costco and Sams. 

Edited November 14, 2020 by MissLemon

[Pen]

5 hours ago, Ali in OR said:

Does anyone do their grocery shopping at night? Not super late, I was thinking about 8:00. Just wondering if shelves tend to be wiped out from the afternoon/dinner hour crowds, or if they restock and you can get what you need at that hour. In general--I realize that will be different in different places. Like I know if I go pretty early in the morning, there are pallets everywhere and they're busy stocking. And some items might be out.

 

I think it depends on the individual store.

Most supermarkets continually restock IME. Some have shelf labels that show whether there’s more whatever it is in back and you can ask for it if they have more that hasn’t restocked. 

People present will depend on area.
 

 You could call the particular store and ask in advance. 

[SeaConquest]

San Diego (Pacific Beach) Costco -- everything was stocked like normal in my Instacart delivery.

[mathnerd]

NorCal: went to two costcos, crowds were higher than normal, but, everything was stocked. Could not find Clorox wipes, gloves and parchment paper which has always been the case since the pandemic hit, but, otherwise, other items like yeast, flour, TP, canned goods, rice, pasta etc were all in stock. My husband said that he noticed packs of some off brand disinfectant wipes and there was plenty of isopropyl alcohol available too.

[Arcadia]

33 minutes ago, mathnerd said:

NorCal: went to two costcos, crowds were higher than normal, but, everything was stocked.

https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/press-release-11-13-2020-contain-covid19-spread.aspx

[mommyoffive]

Our stores were totally normal.  Full shelves of milk, toilet paper,  and everything else.

[regentrude]

Stores normal here. Didn't encounter missing items besides coconut milk

Edited November 15, 2020 by regentrude

[math teacher]

I cannot find Hormel canned tamales at any store I go into. I need to learn to make them I guess.

[alisoncooks]

Chicken breast has increased in price at my local Harris Teeter. This is the second week of carrying that higher price (last week was almost triple; this week was double.)

[Jean in Newcastle]

26 minutes ago, math teacher said:

I cannot find Hormel canned tamales at any store I go into. I need to learn to make them I guess.

https://www.amazon.com/Hormel-Beef-Tamales-15-Ounce/dp/B00D83D7EW/ref=asc_df_B00D83D7EW/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312176979031&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3666348352733060321&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033255&hvtargid=pla-570660684708&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=63792114442&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312176979031&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3666348352733060321&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033255&hvtargid=pla-570660684708

[math teacher]

41 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

https://www.amazon.com/Hormel-Beef-Tamales-15-Ounce/dp/B00D83D7EW/ref=asc_df_B00D83D7EW/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312176979031&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3666348352733060321&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033255&hvtargid=pla-570660684708&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=63792114442&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312176979031&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3666348352733060321&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033255&hvtargid=pla-570660684708

Makes my day-thanks!!

[saraha]

Went to the only big store in our county today for the first time in a long time. They were very full, but there seemed to be no shortages. They even had pasta on sale for $.49 a box if you bought 10, Rotel tomatoes and cream of soups same way. The meat cases were totally stocked. The only thing they didn't have was the aerosol lysol spray, but plenty of other bleach cleaners.

[Bootsie]

On 11/13/2020 at 6:38 PM, Ali in OR said:

Does anyone do their grocery shopping at night? Not super late, I was thinking about 8:00. Just wondering if shelves tend to be wiped out from the afternoon/dinner hour crowds, or if they restock and you can get what you need at that hour. In general--I realize that will be different in different places. Like I know if I go pretty early in the morning, there are pallets everywhere and they're busy stocking. And some items might be out.

That's about when I usually go; I have not had problems with shelves being wiped out.  Sometimes the stockers are beginning to restock while I am there.  My local store has begun placing a 2-pack limit on toilet paper and paper towels--I don't know what else.

 

[Arcadia]

Costco ran out of toilet paper when we went after 3pm. We were at Novato and Richmond. There was a restriction of one per customer for toilet paper at Novato. People were stocking up on mineral water and baby wipes as well.

@sassenach@mathnerd

[PrincessMommy]

I don't go to the big box stores for my groceries anymore.  My local national chain grocery store was completely stocked with TP.  Lots of variety.

The thing is the prices!! Oh my. Not just TP but everything.  I bought mostly fruit and veggies... no meat, only one thing of salmon on sale. TP, bread, milk, yogurt.  The total was over $100.00 !!!!!  

[YaelAldrich]

My Costco said leafy greens were going to be harder to find for a while.

But more interesting is that my husband and daughter went to the gun range to practice shooting today and the gun shop was out of all ammunition except .22lr (long range rifle. No handgun ammo at all. This gun range is in exurban Boston. They were there two weeks ago. My DD learned to fire a rifle today. She did good! 😉 The other women on the range stared at a young teen in a cut-off grey hoodie and black flared skirt hitting the bullseye! Lol

[Pippen]

Our stores have been mostly stocked, but paper products haven't been quite at full levels. 

What I did have some trouble finding today were specific nuts that I use for holiday baking. Several stores didn't have whole pecans and slivered almonds. I don't know if supplies are short, or it's just supplies being depleted quickly for holiday baking. I did finally find pecans.

[Arcadia]

52 minutes ago, Pippen said:

Several stores didn't have whole pecans and slivered almonds. I don't know if supplies are short, or it's just supplies being depleted quickly for holiday baking. I did finally find pecans.

I have seen slivered almonds at various grocery chains but only seen pecan pieces, not whole pecans, there.