Grocery shopping

[PMG]

We call those pallet shops around here. One nearby often had amazon and target returns. It’s kind of fun because we don’t have a target locally. You never know what you’ll find in the shop, but it’s usually worth a stop. I am always several models behind in cell phones, and the pallet shop usually has a good selection of really nice cases for just a couple dollars. Two summers ago I got some lovely stainless steel french presses. Gave one as a gift. Kept one for myself. Still have one for the next wedding or housewarming party. They were $1 each. 

[Cranky]

People seem to be having a hard time finding disinfectant wipes locally, judging by the FB posts. Paper products are available if you are there at the right time, but sell fast.

I feel like I’ve stepped off the supply chain at this point - we have enough basics and what we get every week is what we get.

[Fomerly known as something]

My Mom related a feel food Costco Story.  The woman who runs their churches food bank was at Costco picking up some items that could not be sourced from Feeding America.  She felt guilty about buying so much right now and so made a sign that she was shopping for the XX food bank, people kept coming up and asking how they could donate.

[Cranky]

I am now working on a pantry list for what I want to have in my house by Sept. 1. The whole thing is kinda depressing.

[sui generis]

My Mom related a feel food Costco Story.  The woman who runs their churches food bank was at Costco picking up some items that could not be sourced from Feeding America.  She felt guilty about buying so much right now and so made a sign that she was shopping for the XX food bank, people kept coming up and asking how they could donate.

That's very kind.  It does make a difference for folks to see someone right in front of them, rather than just getting email and mail appeals.

I went shopping today and holy toilet paper supply!  There was a ton!  I bought one package (added to our supply from friends) and now feel safe just to make sure we buy maybe once per month, and that should keep our own little supply chain in good shape.

But, not only no AP flour, but no bread flour this time (there had been lots of that in recent weeks, strangely packaged in clear cellophane with a deli price tag on it).  Many local friends have resorted to buying 50lb bags online.  My last friend would definitely give/sell me some, but she only bought WW, and we still have plenty of that, but we may need to buy a commercial sized bag ourselves soon.

There's definitely no social distancing happening in the stores, except for the checkout lines.  And even then, the lines were so long today, extending into the shopping aisles most of the way to the back of the (very large) store, that shoppers had to get close to the line standers to access the merchandise.  Also, there was blatant disregard of the directional signs on the aisles again today.  None of which made me worry too much.  Everyone was wearing masks and not threatening to murder the store employees for impinging on their liberty, so I think we're doing a pretty good job and was much less anxious after I left than before.

[OtherJen]

I made my monthly Costco run at 11 am today. I didn’t look for toilet paper, but Costco had everything else on my list. The meat selection was much smaller and there was a three-item limit per member, but the variety was decent. I didn’t have to wait in line to get in, and the store was not crowded. Everyone wore a mask and generally kept their distance. This trip and last month’s Costco trip have been my least stressful shopping experiences since early March.

[GuitarStv]

I found an lb of some weird brand of Japanese yeast at my grocery store today!  WHOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[Dicey]

I found an lb of some weird brand of Japanese yeast at my grocery store today!  WHOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I hope it's bilingual, lol.

[MishMash]

We are in Fl, and let me tell you, you can tell the education level and bias based on whatever grocery store you walk into.  Higher end stores like Sprouts and Costco, everyone is wearing masks, being kind, respecting distancing.  You go into Walmart or even Winn Dixie, maaaaybe 10% are wearing masks, and none of the employees are.  I wear a mask and have been yelled at that I am supporting a hoax in Walmart.  It's insane.  Meanwhile my old neighbor just lost both parents, her husband and she herself is now intubated leaving behind 4 minor children, no income, no life insurance they know of as of yet, in the care of an aunt.  It breaks my heart that people can be so ignorant.

We have had the same TP, cleaning materials issues as everyone else.  Once they started putting limits on meat you could typically find something.  In fact I was buying Prime grade briskets for 2.34 a lb last month and chicken breast for 1.49.  We are seeing supply issues with meat now however.  there wasn't a lick of beef in Sams Club the other day, and prices are now going up up up.

[wenchsenior]

We are in Fl, and let me tell you, you can tell the education level and bias based on whatever grocery store you walk into.  Higher end stores like Sprouts and Costco, everyone is wearing masks, being kind, respecting distancing.  You go into Walmart or even Winn Dixie, maaaaybe 10% are wearing masks, and none of the employees are.  I wear a mask and have been yelled at that I am supporting a hoax in Walmart.  It's insane.  Meanwhile my old neighbor just lost both parents, her husband and she herself is now intubated leaving behind 4 minor children, no income, no life insurance they know of as of yet, in the care of an aunt.  It breaks my heart that people can be so ignorant.

Same experience in Texas.  The city is very conservative, and even in the early days of lockdown but after the mask recommendations were revised, there was a huge percentage of people not wearing masks. Now, the store that caters to lower income folks that is within walking distance gives no heed at at all to mask wearing and social distancing, and there's a subset of people that give us dirty looks b/c we are masked and seem to enjoy kind of 'butting in' to our space.  Meanwhile, a few blocks away at the Whole Foods knockoff, everyone is masked and social distancing is mostly carefully observed.

It got me thinking how much subtle peer pressure is going to dictate how much people are going to be willing to abide by guidelines.

[skp]

Funny, I just now got home from Walmart and I'd say 10% of the shoppers weren't wearing a mask.  Rural Republican Ohio.  ETA- If I had to "profile" non mask users based on my experience it is young men.

We are in Fl, and let me tell you, you can tell the education level and bias based on whatever grocery store you walk into.  Higher end stores like Sprouts and Costco, everyone is wearing masks, being kind, respecting distancing.  You go into Walmart or even Winn Dixie, maaaaybe 10% are wearing masks, and none of the employees are.  I wear a mask and have been yelled at that I am supporting a hoax in Walmart.  It's insane.  Meanwhile my old neighbor just lost both parents, her husband and she herself is now intubated leaving behind 4 minor children, no income, no life insurance they know of as of yet, in the care of an aunt.  It breaks my heart that people can be so ignorant.

Same experience in Texas.  The city is very conservative, and even in the early days of lockdown but after the mask recommendations were revised, there was a huge percentage of people not wearing masks. Now, the store that caters to lower income folks that is within walking distance gives no heed at at all to mask wearing and social distancing, and there's a subset of people that give us dirty looks b/c we are masked and seem to enjoy kind of 'butting in' to our space.  Meanwhile, a few blocks away at the Whole Foods knockoff, everyone is masked and social distancing is mostly carefully observed.

It got me thinking how much subtle peer pressure is going to dictate how much people are going to be willing to abide by guidelines.

[geekette]

20’s and 30’s guys.  More likely to be asymptotic carriers, less likely to wear a mask

[GuitarStv]

I've noticed two groups who seem to not wear face masks at the supermarket.  Young people (usually guys) in their 20s/30s for sure . . . but also a surprising number of folks who look about 60 (again mostly men, though more women in this group too).

[jeninco]

Here in Hippistan (mostly liberal, college town, high income, high education) grocery stores are requiring masks to enter, and there's generally an employee outside letting people in as people leave (to keep the total number of shoppers in the store below some level). I've been only shopping once (or twice, depending on what I can find) per week, but I haven't seen people complaining, and most folks are fairly careful about stepping into someone else's space.

[the_fixer]

We are in Fl, and let me tell you, you can tell the education level and bias based on whatever grocery store you walk into.  Higher end stores like Sprouts and Costco, everyone is wearing masks, being kind, respecting distancing.  You go into Walmart or even Winn Dixie, maaaaybe 10% are wearing masks, and none of the employees are.  I wear a mask and have been yelled at that I am supporting a hoax in Walmart.  It's insane.  Meanwhile my old neighbor just lost both parents, her husband and she herself is now intubated leaving behind 4 minor children, no income, no life insurance they know of as of yet, in the care of an aunt.  It breaks my heart that people can be so ignorant.

We have had the same TP, cleaning materials issues as everyone else.  Once they started putting limits on meat you could typically find something.  In fact I was buying Prime grade briskets for 2.34 a lb last month and chicken breast for 1.49.  We are seeing supply issues with meat now however.  there wasn't a lick of beef in Sams Club the other day, and prices are now going up up up.

I can only imagine what it would be like at piggly wiggly :)


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[ixtap]

I meant to go shopping today, but we still have a lot of food in the house (getting low enough on a few specifics that DH is getting antsy) and my back hurts. Have some leftovers, dude, they can even be eaten at lunch, not just when I tell you to find your own dinner! I will even throw them in the microwave for you if choosing a specific leftover is too much mental energy for you today.

[happyfeet]

Metro Detroit -  TP and paper towels at Costco - was there at 10:30 am - also saw boneless skinless chicken breasts.  Store looked pretty stocked other than the meat area. 

[Eilonwy]

We're not doing too badly for most things where I am but apparently garlic is suddenly impossible to find. I hope that's just a blip, because I need my garlic!

[Cgbg]

I’m was at a local WinCo ten minutes or so after opening this morning. I needed some garlic. The bin was empty but the produce guy was about ten feet away with his cart of produce including a box of garlic. I grabbed two. When I was there two weeks ago, there was plenty. Maybe everyone is using more garlic because they’re cooking at home more?

I picked a good year (last fall, actually) to plant two huge beds of garlic. It’ll be ready in a bit more than a month. I’ll plant more next fall. I was surprised at how well it’s grown in my raised beds.

[Eilonwy]

I planted onions and garlic, but they all disappeared. :-( Not sure if it was birds or gophers.

[SquashingDebt]

I went on my first shopping trip in a month yesterday.  I was able to get almost all of what I wanted.  Produce was fully stocked, meat was fully stocked, dairy was fully stocked.  Rice and pasta and beans were sparse but I could still pretty much buy what I wanted.  The only wheat flour was the tiny 2 lb bags, with a limit of one.  Lots of paper towels but all the same packages of the store brand.  Just a few tiny packs of cheap toilet paper, with the labels in Spanish - so clearly they're still having a hard time sourcing it.  The two things I wanted but couldn't get were yeast and tofu.  I did end up spending kind of a ridiculous amount on "pre-marinated" tofu - 4x more on a per-lb basis to have it marinated in flavors that don't quite match what I want.  Oh well.

[geekette]

Storms destroyed much of the 2019 crop, and the US used to buy a lot of garlic from China.

[PMG]

This garlic info is interesting. About 6 weeks ago my spouse just grabbed several heads (bulbs? The word escapes me at the moment) and was shocked when he looked at the receipt and had paid $10 for garlic. We decided it wasn’t worth going back and investigating if it was a mistake. Must have just been a steep markup for a harder to find product.

[Cranky]

I'm getting several heads of garlic every week in my produce box. We are well stocked! And I bought onion sets right before it all started, and have planted a few every week for green onions.

Also in yesterday's produce box was a bag of carrots with a Canadian brand name, labeled "product of Mexico" so that has certainly wandered around for a bit!

[Retire-Canada]

No garlic shortage on Southern Vancouver Island BC Canada.

[GuitarStv]

No garlic shortage on Southern Vancouver Island BC Canada.

Careful . . . you're setting yourself up to be swamped with garlic loving American refugees.

[Retire-Canada]

Careful . . . you're setting yourself up to be swamped with garlic loving American refugees.

I didn't move to an island for nothing! Much easier to defend in a garlic crisis!

[frugalnacho]

This was all a plot by Big Vampire to create a garlic shortage, and boy is it working.

[Retire-Canada]

This was all a plot by Big Vampire to create a garlic shortage, and boy is it working.

Just came back from the store and....

[Khaetra]

Went shopping today and got everything on the list.  No toilet paper or paper towels but they had tissue.  Plenty of meat, cheese and bread (with limits), pasta and rice were still pretty wiped out but overall you could get pretty much whatever you needed.

Also saw so...many...people without masks, a few of them coughing and NOT covering their mouths.  I mask up.

[anotherAlias]

My toilet paper stock has been getting low so I've been stalking target, Walmart and Amazon websites for toilet paper that is in stock and not outrageously priced.  Targets app had been showing stock in the store all week but it wasn't available for pick up.  So yesterday I was about to brave the store when I noticed it was out of stock again in the app.  So I checked Walmarts website again and found a 20 pack of Scott for normal prices and free 2 day delivery with a $35 purchase. So after Fed Ex gets here today, Im set on toilet paper again for months.  On other fronts,the grocery store stocks seem to have mostly normalized with the exception of meat.  That's still a little bit or miss so meal planning is still a bit of an adventure.  We've been stocking up a little extra each trip with whatever is still plentiful. Since our state is now fully open, I'm hoping stocks will return to normal in the next month or so.

[sui generis]

Since our state is now fully open, I'm hoping stocks will return to normal in the next month or so.

I'm not aware of any shutdown orders that impacted food or essential supply production or delivery. What was closed in your state that affected grocery store stocks?

My husband went shopping yesterday and he said there was plenty of everything! We even got AP flour, which we had just one or two cups left of, so perfect timing!

Actually, they were out of his favorite dark chocolate covered malt balls, but luckily I'm always well stocked on dark chocolate!

[debbie does duncan]

Finally hit Costco in Nanaimo BC. Best shop ever. No line ups in or out. No people jams and TONS of TP! Parking lot 3/4 full.

[anotherAlias]

Since our state is now fully open, I'm hoping stocks will return to normal in the next month or so.

I'm not aware of any shutdown orders that impacted food or essential supply production or delivery. What was closed in your state that affected grocery store stocks?

My husband went shopping yesterday and he said there was plenty of everything! We even got AP flour, which we had just one or two cups left of, so perfect timing!

Actually, they were out of his favorite dark chocolate covered malt balls, but luckily I'm always well stocked on dark chocolate!

It wasn't a shutdown of supply, rather a shift in demand that was causing problems.  As has been mentioned in this thread before, restaurants have a different supply chain than grocery stores.  When restaurants shut down or limited to take out, people started getting more of their food from grocery stores which caused shortages.  Every week there seems to be a couple items that are completely sold out and it's not the same items.  It's some bizarre rotation of random foods.  Chicken one week, bananas another week, lettuce the next.

[sui generis]

Since our state is now fully open, I'm hoping stocks will return to normal in the next month or so.

I'm not aware of any shutdown orders that impacted food or essential supply production or delivery. What was closed in your state that affected grocery store stocks?

My husband went shopping yesterday and he said there was plenty of everything! We even got AP flour, which we had just one or two cups left of, so perfect timing!

Actually, they were out of his favorite dark chocolate covered malt balls, but luckily I'm always well stocked on dark chocolate!

It wasn't a shutdown of supply, rather a shift in demand that was causing problems.  As has been mentioned in this thread before, restaurants have a different supply chain than grocery stores.  When restaurants shut down or limited to take out, people started getting more of their food from grocery stores which caused shortages.  Every week there seems to be a couple items that are completely sold out and it's not the same items.  It's some bizarre rotation of random foods.  Chicken one week, bananas another week, lettuce the next.

Oh I see. Yes, it's been a shock to me to realize just how much people must go out to eat to decimate grocery store stocks the way they have been. I always figured that I went out as much as anybody, probably one lunch and one dinner per week, and that hasn't changed for us. I wonder just how many non-home-cooked meals the average family or person consumed before the pandemic.

[NotJen]

Oh I see. Yes, it's been a shock to me to realize just how much people must go out to eat to decimate grocery store stocks the way they have been. I always figured that I went out as much as anybody, probably one lunch and one dinner per week, and that hasn't changed for us. I wonder just how many non-home-cooked meals the average family or person consumed before the pandemic.

In my area, people eat out a ton.  Lots of lunch traffic from dudes who go out with their coworkers every day.  In normal times, my BF never has food in his house.  Literally nothing edible except a few beers in the fridge - he eats out every meal, every day.  I personally find that exhausting.  But he's an example of someone who never buys from the grocery supply chain, and has now spent just over two months exclusively eating groceries (we haven't done any takeout).

I'm buying more, too, since eating out was the main way I socialized with anyone other than my BF.

Grocery stores here started to stabilize when everyone realized they could still do takeout.

[Crease]

It's interesting to see how a pandemic affects grocery prices. Every time I check out the total is like 25% higher than I expect. Wanted some steak as a treat and the low-end grocery chain in my area (Brooklyn) is selling cheap flank cut at $12.99/lb.

[FireLane]

I went grocery shopping yesterday morning, and the store was... normal. Everything that's been absent from shelves was there: salad mix, bananas, yogurt and cheese, boneless chicken breast, ground turkey, flour and sugar. The fancy organic eggs that I hadn't seen for a long time were back. There was even plenty of bleach and toilet paper.

Maybe I just hit on a good time and they recently restocked, or maybe supply chains are getting sorted out. (Some of the toilet paper was a brand called Tork, which I think is usually used in offices.)

It was the strangest feeling to see full shelves, which I would have taken completely for granted before this. I felt incredibly privileged and even a little guilty, like I was getting away with something.

[coppertop]

I went to Aldi yesterday and was quite disappointed to see that canned tomatoes were nearly nonexistent.  There were no diced tomatoes or tomato paste at all; I was able to get a can of crushed tomatoes and I could have bought those tiny cans of tomato sauce if I had needed any.  I purchased jars of prepared marinara, which they seemed to have a decent supply of, and am going to have to try not to plan any meals that need diced tomatoes until I get to the store again to see if I can buy tomatoes. 

I also have not been able to buy split red lentils or dried chickpeas, both of which are staples in our house (we eat a vegetarian diet).  I could buy both of those things on line, but for outrageous prices which I just won't pay. 

[DadJokes]

Aldi doesn't even have a spot on the shelf for disinfectant wipes anymore, but employees out front are using them to wipe down carts. They have to be somewhere, and I'm starting to run out.

[GuitarStv]

I went to Aldi yesterday and was quite disappointed to see that canned tomatoes were nearly nonexistent.  There were no diced tomatoes or tomato paste at all; I was able to get a can of crushed tomatoes and I could have bought those tiny cans of tomato sauce if I had needed any.  I purchased jars of prepared marinara, which they seemed to have a decent supply of, and am going to have to try not to plan any meals that need diced tomatoes until I get to the store again to see if I can buy tomatoes. 

I also have not been able to buy split red lentils or dried chickpeas, both of which are staples in our house (we eat a vegetarian diet).  I could buy both of those things on line, but for outrageous prices which I just won't pay.

Just hold out if you can, and then buy way in excess of what you need when it becomes available.

Took me 8 weeks to find yeast, 2 weeks for flour, 4 weeks for dried beans, etc.

[frugalnacho]

I went to costco yesterday. It was not very busy, but that could be because it was raining like hell.  No toilet paper, ground beef, chicken, or pork.  I did get flour and sugar. 

[Retire-Canada]

It took me a while, but I got the larger size boxes of table salt. They've had the smaller containers, but weren't totally out so I hung on for the cheaper $/unit size.

[slappy]

I went to Aldi yesterday and was quite disappointed to see that canned tomatoes were nearly nonexistent.  There were no diced tomatoes or tomato paste at all; I was able to get a can of crushed tomatoes and I could have bought those tiny cans of tomato sauce if I had needed any.  I purchased jars of prepared marinara, which they seemed to have a decent supply of, and am going to have to try not to plan any meals that need diced tomatoes until I get to the store again to see if I can buy tomatoes. 

I also have not been able to buy split red lentils or dried chickpeas, both of which are staples in our house (we eat a vegetarian diet).  I could buy both of those things on line, but for outrageous prices which I just won't pay.

We also eat vegetarian and we kept a decent supply of canned beans and diced tomatoes. We get ours from Sams online.

[firstmatedavy]

I went to Aldi yesterday and was quite disappointed to see that canned tomatoes were nearly nonexistent.  There were no diced tomatoes or tomato paste at all; I was able to get a can of crushed tomatoes and I could have bought those tiny cans of tomato sauce if I had needed any.  I purchased jars of prepared marinara, which they seemed to have a decent supply of, and am going to have to try not to plan any meals that need diced tomatoes until I get to the store again to see if I can buy tomatoes. 

I also have not been able to buy split red lentils or dried chickpeas, both of which are staples in our house (we eat a vegetarian diet).  I could buy both of those things on line, but for outrageous prices which I just won't pay.

Just hold out if you can, and then buy way in excess of what you need when it becomes available.

Took me 8 weeks to find yeast, 2 weeks for flour, 4 weeks for dried beans, etc.

And if you're willing to make an extra stop and there's one near you, try an Indian grocery store. Maybe I just got lucky, but the one in my town has big bags of dry chickpeas and lentils, and seems to keep a very large stock of most of the dry goods.

[partgypsy]

The stores I have been going to have been pretty well stocked though sometimes things that are popular and on sale are sold out (at this point too much bother to put in a raincheck). Except for: cleaning supplies like bleach, and I was craving making both potato salad and fish with dill, and all the dill was sold out, 2 stores (did everyone have the same idea?). Anyways need to grow some dill.

[MishMash]

The stores I have been going to have been pretty well stocked though sometimes things that are popular and on sale are sold out (at this point too much bother to put in a raincheck). Except for: cleaning supplies like bleach, and I was craving making both potato salad and fish with dill, and all the dill was sold out, 2 stores (did everyone have the same idea?). Anyways need to grow some dill.

Order from butcher-packer online, they are a sausage making place but their supply of herbs is ON POINT, only place I get spices from now. I got a huge thing of dill last week.  I know have dill for years for the cost of a teeny grocery store container

[MishMash]

Oh and their vanilla bean prices are the cheapest I've ever seen as well in case anyone needs any. 9 beans for 17 I think is what I paid.

[Cranky]

Look on FB for a local “supply chain” group. People post where they find wipes and tp.

[Loretta]

I was having difficulty finding hand soap.  At my local independent hardware they had bottles of the fancy pants organic stuff which I passed up.  I ordered a refill container on Amazon which was cancelled.  I ordered 2 different brands of refill containers on Safeway’s delivery site, Dial and the Signature store brand.  Neither one was in stock on my delivery day.  I wound up ordering a decade‘S worth of fancy pants organic refill pouches on Amazon, with each pouch supposedly refilling 3 bottles. And it was the same brand I passed up at the hardware store.  I paid  $34.21 for it.  Now it’s unavailable on Amazon so overall I did good!  #Adulting!  #KillingIt!