News: Costco is once again placing limits on purchases of toilet paper, paper towels and cleaning supplies.

[Arcadia]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/24/business/costco-toilet-paper-limits/index.html
“

The Delta variant continues to spread across the globe, sending demand for those items higher. But that's not the only reason why Costco is limiting purchases. The warehouse store is also having trouble finding trucks, drivers and shipping containers to get the items to its stores.

"The factors pressuring supply chains and inflation include port delays, container shortages, Covid disruptions, shortages on various components, raw materials and ingredients, labor cost pressures and truck and driver shortages," said Costco CFO Richard Galanti, speaking to investors after reporting quarterly results Thursday evening. "Various major brands are requesting longer lead times, and in some cases, difficulty in finding drivers and trucks on short notice."
…

Rather than just pay to move containers of freight from Asia to North America, Costco has chartered three container ships, with each ship able to carry 800 to 1,000 containers at a time. Costco anticipates it can make ten cross-Pacific trips a year with the ships.

The shipping costs are making some items more expensive, adding to other inflationary pressures.

"Price increases of pulp and paper goods, some items [are] up 4% to 8%," he said. Plastic items, such as trash bags, Ziploc bags, disposable cups and plates are up in the 5% to 11% range. Non-durable metal items, such as aluminum foil and beverage cans are up in the mid-single-digit range.“

[Tenaj]

And as soon as that news popped up on the local news I went to order Tp from Sam's Club and they were already out locally.  I ordered online - says it will ship tomorrow.

[Arcadia]

Costco limit where I live is one package of toilet paper per customer but you can buy a package of Kirkland and a package of Charming. There was still plenty when we went during lunch hour but I won’t be surprised if they run out by dinner time. 

[stephanier.1765]

When I went earlier in the week, Costco already had limits in place. I was already planning on buying a pack but I was definitely leaving with one after seeing that. There was plenty of paper but now that it's hit the news that may no longer be true. I might go next week just to see.

[mommyoffive]

Yep, heard that a few days ago and put in orders to stock the pantry even more. 

[Tree Frog]

They must be limiting items in specific markets. There were no limits at my local Costco when I went first thing this morning.

[Acadie]

My Costco has been out of Kirkland TP for weeks, and it's been hit-or-miss with Charmin. 

[Arcadia]

8 hours ago, wilrunner said:

They must be limiting items in specific markets. There were no limits at my local Costco when I went first thing this morning.

 

7 hours ago, Acadie said:

My Costco has been out of Kirkland TP for weeks, and it's been hit-or-miss with Charmin. 

The one I am at now is out of toilet paper. Paper towels are running low. I am in the SF Bay Area.

ETA: we did buy a package the other day as we were almost out of toilet paper. 

Edited September 26, 2021 by Arcadia

[melmichigan]

We've had limits at our local Sam's Club for weeks, but it also includes meat.

[Spryte]

Our Costco has been out of the Kirkland brand for a few weeks. Today the only alternative was Scott. Apparently we are TP snobs here, because this was very distressing to several of us.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Spryte
Fat fingers

[Garga]

There was a thread about 2 months ago that people were starting to see a few shortages again, so I’ve been stocking up ever since. I had stocked up in Feb 2020, based on threads here, but made a few missteps in what I stocked up on (Spaghettios? Really, Garga? We didn’t need to stock up on Spaghettios!)

This time around I’m better at what I stock up on. TP is high on the list and I have a bunch of packs in the basement.

[gardenmom5]

It's the shipping.  Even if they can get a container ship - they still have to dock it somewhere it can be offloaded and containers shipped where needed.

[klmama]

Our local Costco was out of ultra soft Charmin and was limiting ultra strong Charmin and Kirkland TP to one per customer.  The sliced Kirkland turkey lunch meat and Kirkland dishwasher pods were back in stock today after not being available for a while.  Gala apples were back, too, in place of the Fuji apples they've had for a few months.  

[prairiewindmomma]

We had to stop into Costco today. The only toilet paper available was Charmin Strong. There were about 8 packages left. The only paper towels were Kirkland brand—which we hadn’t seen in weeks—and there were 6 packages left after we took one. 
 

No chicken nuggets, no chicken tenders, limited supply of chicken patties. There were weird product selections here and there but no gaps in shelf space like in the paper goods section. 

[Amy in NH]

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2021/09/your-favorite-toilet-paper-may-be-making-climate-change-worse/?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=naytev&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR0qnjlJqgg_Zqa5VLx84YSNNXdh1WprgeMKfsHjiBdgGxfrCyKMq-Kc5mQ

[Ausmumof3]

Not just truck drivers and ships but truck parts apparently

https://twitter.com/timothydooner/status/1441809683648503812?s=21

Edited September 26, 2021 by Ausmumof3

[prairiewindmomma]

57 minutes ago, Amy in NH said:

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2021/09/your-favorite-toilet-paper-may-be-making-climate-change-worse/?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=naytev&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR0qnjlJqgg_Zqa5VLx84YSNNXdh1WprgeMKfsHjiBdgGxfrCyKMq-Kc5mQ

Thank you for sharing this. The boreal forest cutting is what helped push us towards bidets.

[MEmama]

Anyone want to share their personal reviews on Who Gives A Crap bamboo tp? I still have lots of their recycled kind but I really don’t like it. I’d rather buy from them though. 

[Carrie12345]

I don’t know if it’s local or wider, but Walmart pick up has been limiting pretty much everything through the app for quite some time, and now is pushing toward shipping options. (I was not thrilled with my shipped order.) They’ve been showing OOS on all WM white bread/buns and few other brands for weeks That weirdness freaked me out a bit.

But, as I said a while back, my regular grocery store appears to be operating nearly 100% normal. I even got ground beef (80/20, but okay) for 2.49lb AND $5 off when spending 25. I don’t expect them to hold steady forever, but I do highly recommend people take a look at their more standard grocery stores.

[Ethel Mertz]

2 hours ago, MEmama said:

Anyone want to share their personal reviews on Who Gives A Crap bamboo tp? I still have lots of their recycled kind but I really don’t like it. I’d rather buy from them though. 

I didn’t like it as much as their recycled kind. But give it a try. We love that company. Don’t get the paper towels though; they aren’t very absorbent. Don’t know about the Kleenex. We get the Willow brand of Kleenex at Aldi’s.

[mlktwins]

DH and I are heading out to Costco in a few minutes.  We have paper products stocked here, but try to keep up with it as we use something up.  We are still buying for my dad also.

Curious to see what things look like there...

[mlktwins]

So…our Costco was fully stocked with both Charmin and Kirkland TP, Kirkland paper towels, and Bounty paper towels.  Limit one on the TP and paper towels.  No limit on bottled water.  Everything we wanted was in stock.

[Ausmumof3]

And just to add to supply chain woes, apparently power shortages across China are limiting factory output, although I guess it will be a couple of months before the i pacts of that hit if at all.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-power-outages-pose-new-threat-to-supplies-of-chips-and-other-goods-11632769617

[Murphy101]

I don’t think ours ever stopped.  I can’t remember the sign ever not being there in a very long time. But there’s never been a run out except at the very start of covid for a couple weeks. 

[Arcadia]

On 9/25/2021 at 7:54 PM, gardenmom5 said:

It's the shipping.  Even if they can get a container ship - they still have to dock it somewhere it can be offloaded and containers shipped where needed.

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/09/29/los-angeles-port-cargo-ships-backlog/
“LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – As an estimated 500,000 containers are sitting on cargo ships off the Southern California coast, many are wondering how to handle the backlog.

Few are more frustrated about the backlog at the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach, than truck drivers in the chaos. They say that a trucker shortage is not the problem, instead, the port needs to speed up wait times and have more dock help ready to offload.

“I’ve got friends right now that are in line… from nine o’clock in the morning and they can’t pull the load yet,” said truck driver Walter Martinez. “The people inside, they get paid by the hour, but not the drivers.”

Some blame outdated infrastructure, importers with nowhere to store the containers, and dock help not keeping up with demand.

“Last night I was there from eight o’clock to three in the morning. They kicked me out because they leave at three o’clock,” said Oscar Ovalle. “There’s one crane for 60 trucks and it’s ridiculous! They have two other cranes sitting.””

[gardenmom5]

7 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/09/29/los-angeles-port-cargo-ships-backlog/
“LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – As an estimated 500,000 containers are sitting on cargo ships off the Southern California coast, many are wondering how to handle the backlog.

Few are more frustrated about the backlog at the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach, than truck drivers in the chaos. They say that a trucker shortage is not the problem, instead, the port needs to speed up wait times and have more dock help ready to offload.

“I’ve got friends right now that are in line… from nine o’clock in the morning and they can’t pull the load yet,” said truck driver Walter Martinez. “The people inside, they get paid by the hour, but not the drivers.”

Some blame outdated infrastructure, importers with nowhere to store the containers, and dock help not keeping up with demand.

“Last night I was there from eight o’clock to three in the morning. They kicked me out because they leave at three o’clock,” said Oscar Ovalle. “There’s one crane for 60 trucks and it’s ridiculous! They have two other cranes sitting.””

only using one crane - two unused . . .  I have to wonder how  many other ports have the same problem.  And what's behind this slow down.  It wasn't like this before covid.

[stephanier.1765]

I visited Costco this morning and they now only have Kirkland paper in stock. I'm not a fan so I skipped buying a package. I really hope I don't regret that decision.

[Murphy101]

1 hour ago, gardenmom5 said:

only using one crane - two unused . . .  I have to wonder how  many other ports have the same problem.  And what's behind this slow down.  It wasn't like this before covid.

It wasn’t this bad before covid. But these infrastructure problems are not new.  They have been tenuous for many years.  Because they are based entirely on not having any problems up or down the line.  And now we have multiple problems in multiple areas of the country.

[Ann.without.an.e]

On 9/25/2021 at 9:44 PM, Garga said:

 (Spaghettios? Really, Garga? We didn’t need to stock up on Spaghettios!)

This time around I’m better at what I stock up on. TP is high on the list and I have a bunch of packs in the basement.

 

It was cheerios for me. Why?  We don't even eat them 🤣  DH just found a box that expired 11-2020 and wanted to know why we had them.

[Garga]

11 minutes ago, Ann.without.an.e said:

 

It was cheerios for me. Why?  We don't even eat them 🤣  DH just found a box that expired 11-2020 and wanted to know why we had them.

Why indeed! My ds16 and ds19 had never even eaten Spaghettios. Why did I buy cans of Spaghettios during a pandemic? 

Something about words that end in -ios I guess: Cheerios and Spaghettios.

[Arcadia]

On 9/25/2021 at 6:44 PM, Garga said:

This time around I’m better at what I stock up on. TP is high on the list and I have a bunch of packs in the basement.

I am slowly buying what I need to make my Christmas brandy/rum fruit cake. I am too lazy to make my own candied ginger cubes so I bought a pack from Trader Joe’s just in case they are out of stock again. 

[Murphy101]

1 hour ago, Arcadia said:

I am slowly buying what I need to make my Christmas brandy/rum fruit cake. I am too lazy to make my own candied ginger cubes so I bought a pack from Trader Joe’s just in case they are out of stock again. 

I noticed the news was pushing that people should stock up for holidays now just in case. 

[marbel]

3 hours ago, stephanier.1765 said:

I visited Costco this morning and they now only have Kirkland paper in stock. I'm not a fan so I skipped buying a package. I really hope I don't regret that decision.

The kirkland paper makes me itch like crazy, so I stopped buying it and go for the giant packs of charmin instead. It was a long hard fight to figure that out, and I am really not interested in experimenting with anything new. But I know I won't be using kirkland. (Though my family can use it with no problem, so if it came to that, I could figure something else out for myself.)

Edited September 29, 2021 by marbel

[Arcadia]

3 hours ago, stephanier.1765 said:

I visited Costco this morning and they now only have Kirkland paper in stock. I'm not a fan so I skipped buying a package. I really hope I don't regret that decision.

We just went to Costco and they were out of Kirkland toilet paper. My husband took the Charmin toilet paper as he is worried about China’s power outages causing more shortages.

https://www.businessinsider.com/china-power-shortage-halts-apple-tesla-suppliers-stresses-supply-chain-2021-9

”The power shortage has forced several key suppliers for major companies like Apple and Tesla to suspend production. Key manufacturing and shipping hubs in China have been hit by energy-use restrictions as the Chinese government works to make President Xi Jinping's carbon neutral goals a reality. The power shortage comes at a time when coal and gas prices are surging in the country as demand for Chinese products booms.

The outages threaten to further exacerbate the global supply-chain crisis, which has burgeoned from COVID-19 shutdowns paired with a buying frenzy. The energy limits also come at a time when shipping delays in the US have hit a record high. Power outages in heavy shipping regions like Guangdong, paired with China's zero tolerance policy for COVID-19, could make it harder for the country to export key products.”

Edited September 29, 2021 by Arcadia
Typo

[Ausmumof3]

5 hours ago, gardenmom5 said:

only using one crane - two unused . . .  I have to wonder how  many other ports have the same problem.  And what's behind this slow down.  It wasn't like this before covid.

This is worth a watch if you’re interested in more depth on the topic - goes into all the different factors.

[Elfknitter.#]

I realize this thread is specifically on Costco, but I did notice some empty refrigerated cases (especially dairy and some frozen foods) at my local grocery store last night.

[Amy in NH]

On 9/26/2021 at 6:38 AM, MEmama said:

Anyone want to share their personal reviews on Who Gives A Crap bamboo tp? I still have lots of their recycled kind but I really don’t like it. I’d rather buy from them though. 

I haven't tried their recycled, but we did use a different brand of 100% post-consumer recycled before which became worse and worse over time to the point that we had a tp roll trial and vote in our house to find a new brand.  Of the brands in the running (found at our local food co-op grocery) the majority selected BimBamBoo.  We bought a case, but the rolls were so small that we went through it way too fast.  I decided to try the Bamboo WGAC on a whim, and we all love it even more than the BBB.  So there you have it.  I order a new case when I open the one in the pantry, so we had just opened a case AND received a new one when the tp shortage hit.  We are on our fifth case now, I think.

Edited September 30, 2021 by Amy in NH

[Faith-manor]

I am beginning my winter stock up. Between shortage worries and the fact that I really hate to run out of basics during the winter because I hate scraping windows and driving on our icy back roads, I need to be able to hunker down. So far doing okay on most things. However, some have been rather spotty.

Locally, those that raised meat chickens are slaughtering now. So we have 12 whole roasting g chickens in the freezer plus it is beef time as well, and we recently got half a beef. I need to get rice, lentils, pintos, and quinoa put away, broth and stock, a few herbs/spices that are running low. I did can 21 pint jars of salsa, 14 jars of pizza sauce, 23 jars of marinara, and have 20 heads of broccoli chopped and frozen, 14 quarts of green beans, a bushel of sweet corn, and a few quart bags of peas all in the freezer. I froze some peach slices and some melon balls, as well as a bunch of blueberries and raspberries. I made two gallons of applesauce and froze, dehydrated a few babies of apple chips, but managed to get about 100 grape tomatoes into the dehydrater as sell as a nice amount of mixed stew veggies. My next project is to peel and chunk 25 lbs of Yukon golds and freeze for mashed potatoes and soups. Then I plan on collapsing in a chair. I should be able to keep us fairly well fed even if some staples be tight. I should probably get some extra cat food and litter put away too.

Why do people have to eat? More importantly why am I the one that feeds people? 😜 

That said, I know my mom and mother in law don't have the bandwidth mentally/emotionally, nor the extra income to manage much stocking up.

Oy, I would like to retire from the "person who plans in advance for everyone" job!

[Carrie12345]

1 hour ago, Faith-manor said:

Why do people have to eat? More importantly why am I the one that feeds people? 😜

Seriously, I’m so sick of thinking about food!

That said, I found a restaurant supply store under an hour from us that doesn’t require membership, does do curbside, and will probably take all my money!   
Not all of their prices are terrific, but I have 1 kid who will eat processed chicken products when the rest of us eat normal meals that aren’t on his “approved “ list, and I could knock out the whole winter stock up in one trip!  
(He is slowly expanding his food range. Just not enough for me to make much effort at his age anymore!)

[prairiewindmomma]

1 hour ago, Faith-manor said:

I am beginning my winter stock up. Between shortage worries and the fact that I really hate to run out of basics during the winter because I hate scraping windows and driving on our icy back roads, I need to be able to hunker down. So far doing okay on most things. However, some have been rather spotty.

Locally, those that raised meat chickens are slaughtering now. So we have 12 whole roasting g chickens in the freezer plus it is beef time as well, and we recently got half a beef. I need to get rice, lentils, pintos, and quinoa put away, broth and stock, a few herbs/spices that are running low. I did can 21 pint jars of salsa, 14 jars of pizza sauce, 23 jars of marinara, and have 20 heads of broccoli chopped and frozen, 14 quarts of green beans, a bushel of sweet corn, and a few quart bags of peas all in the freezer. I froze some peach slices and some melon balls, as well as a bunch of blueberries and raspberries. I made two gallons of applesauce and froze, dehydrated a few babies of apple chips, but managed to get about 100 grape tomatoes into the dehydrater as sell as a nice amount of mixed stew veggies. My next project is to peel and chunk 25 lbs of Yukon golds and freeze for mashed potatoes and soups. Then I plan on collapsing in a chair. I should be able to keep us fairly well fed even if some staples be tight. I should probably get some extra cat food and litter put away too.

Why do people have to eat? More importantly why am I the one that feeds people? 😜 

That said, I know my mom and mother in law don't have the bandwidth mentally/emotionally, nor the extra income to manage much stocking up.

Oy, I would like to retire from the "person who plans in advance for everyone" job!

Good job! 

[Faith-manor]

54 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Good job! 

Thanks! By Oy I am tired! I cannot imagine the arduous labor of women in times past who had to have every darn possible thing eaten from harvest to harvest preserved in some way in order for their families to not starve. No wonder people were shorter!

[Storygirl]

I've had trouble finding Gatorade at both Costco and my grocery store. DS16 runs cross country, and we like to have it on hand for his meets.

[cjzimmer1]

1 minute ago, Storygirl said:

I've had trouble finding Gatorade at both Costco and my grocery store. DS16 runs cross country, and we like to have it on hand for his meets.

How does he feel about the powdered stuff?  My kids really like it and it's much cheaper than the premade stuff.  i had been having trouble finding it in person but Walmart had it online with free shipping (which humorously was then delivered from my local store after I couldn't find it there in person).

[Corraleno]

57 minutes ago, Storygirl said:

I've had trouble finding Gatorade at both Costco and my grocery store. DS16 runs cross country, and we like to have it on hand for his meets.

Seconding cjzimmer's rec of powdered gatorade. DS is a varsity athlete and keeps tubs of this on hand, it's SO much cheaper than buying bottles (the powder makes 9 gallons for $10), plus it greatly reduces plastic waste.

https://smile.amazon.com/Gatorade-Thirst-Quencher-Powder-Glacier/dp/B0776HZ26P/ref=pd_bxgy_1/146-6282120-4053547?pd_rd_w=Nucaw&pf_rd_p=c64372fa-c41c-422e-990d-9e034f73989b&pf_rd_r=YJDFH0GFSCC3RQDS1NBD&pd_rd_r=22e18e39-0494-45d1-a02c-87062fff4cd7&pd_rd_wg=f8bN3&pd_rd_i=B0776HZ26P&psc=1

Edited September 30, 2021 by Corraleno

[saraha]

4 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

Oy, I would like to retire from the "person who plans in advance for everyone" job!

I feel you sister!

I know we are talking about Costco but I will say our local  save a lot, Kroger and iga plus our family dollar and dollar general all have tons of toilet paper. The only store dealing with shortages of any type is the Family Dollar and that store looks crazy with the random empty shelves, but they have plenty of toilet paper! Is Costco a membership place like sams club? We don’t have them here

[Storygirl]

I don't know why I didn't think about the powdered Gatorade! Thanks, guys!

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, Corraleno said:

Seconding cjzimmer's rec of powdered gatorade. DS is a varsity athlete and keeps tubs of this on hand, it's SO much cheaper than buying bottles (the powder makes 9 gallons for $10), plus it greatly reduces plastic waste.

https://smile.amazon.com/Gatorade-Thirst-Quencher-Powder-Glacier/dp/B0776HZ26P/ref=pd_bxgy_1/146-6282120-4053547?pd_rd_w=Nucaw&pf_rd_p=c64372fa-c41c-422e-990d-9e034f73989b&pf_rd_r=YJDFH0GFSCC3RQDS1NBD&pd_rd_r=22e18e39-0494-45d1-a02c-87062fff4cd7&pd_rd_wg=f8bN3&pd_rd_i=B0776HZ26P&psc=1

Do they have a sugar free verison? 

[Faith-manor]

33 minutes ago, saraha said:

I feel you sister!

I know we are talking about Costco but I will say our local  save a lot, Kroger and iga plus our family dollar and dollar general all have tons of toilet paper. The only store dealing with shortages of any type is the Family Dollar and that store looks crazy with the random empty shelves, but they have plenty of toilet paper! Is Costco a membership place like sams club? We don’t have them here

I don't know. We don't have either one within an hour of us. But I have an acquaintance that does shop at one in the city, and she posted on FB, that there was a definite ite run on certain items. Paper towels, if memory serves.

[marbel]

46 minutes ago, saraha said:

Is Costco a membership place like sams club? We don’t have them here

Yes, it is membership and is very similar to Sam's Club, even with regard to pricing of certain items. But there are also differences in the types of products they carry - I'd say Costco tends toward a little higher end than Sam's in some things. 

[Arcadia]

21 hours ago, Elfknitter.# said:

I realize this thread is specifically on Costco, but I did notice some empty refrigerated cases (especially dairy and some frozen foods) at my local grocery store last night.

 

1 hour ago, saraha said:

I feel you sister!

I know we are talking about Costco but I will say our local  save a lot, Kroger and iga plus our family dollar and dollar general all have tons of toilet paper. The only store dealing with shortages of any type is the Family Dollar and that store looks crazy with the random empty shelves, but they have plenty of toilet paper! Is Costco a membership place like sams club? We don’t have them here

This thread isn’t just about Costco. Its just that the news article about shortages was using Costco as an example. I am seeing less availability and higher prices at many local supermarkets (asians supermarkets as well as Trader Joe’s). Costco is a membership place and happen to have the cheapest gasoline prices for us locally. The 4% cash back from Costco gasoline more than covers the membership fees for us.