shortages vary - from store to store - even in a very small geographical area - shop around

hi - exactly as title .

i has a tesco and lidl - within 500m of each other

and the pattern of shortages - is not always equal

today - no potatoes @ tesco - i was not worried - cos i had 1/2 a sweeptotato and one big baking spud at home

lidl - loads of potatoes - and a lot of other fresh veg - that tesco was critical short of - plenty of choice and variety

so - dont be disheartend cos your 1st go-to shop has a critical shortage

try the rest of the town

this may not always work [ lidl had zero toilet paper ] - and for some people time may be a factor

but if you can try more than one store - and different marques

and go every day - tesco - had loads of fresh toilet roll on wedensday - but now all gone

that was your public service announce - from your supermarket monitoring munkie

Just be careful.

The more shops you go to, the more people you’re exposed to. And the more people you’re exposed to, the higher the risk one of them might be spreading the virus without even knowing it.

Keep Calm and Carry On.

Personally, I think the grocers should be treating the TP and sanitizing agents in the same way as the deli counter. You go up, get a ticket, and ask for what you need, with a limit of two per order.

They have the ticket systems, and that is a system shoppers are already accustomed to and should follow. If they do not want to wait to be served, then they really didn't need that item in the first place.

Yep, it indeed varies. We drove around the Grand Rapids metro today (vet bumped up a visit to today, rent payment, minor auto work at the mechanic, grabbing a few things for some dinner ideas) etc, and popped into a number of places. I'll list the places for folks in my area so they know where there's still a good variety:

Starting from Plainfield and going south, then just on Division and Clyde Park:

Kens Fruit Market:
Well-stocked, but out of ground beef, probably out of potatoes by now, and no dried black beans left. Various canned goods were out or low (hubs grabbed what I joked was the last two cans of Dinty Moore stew for his work lunches in the state) BUT since Ken's deals primarily in fresh foods, there's PLENTY of fruits and veggies, and other meats. We grabbed a beauty of a roast and a variety of vegetables and fruits, and there was plenty of meat in the cooler as it was all around. Also, their wine & craft beers stocks are good, so if you want local or in-state stuff, they got it.

Kingma's:
Well stocked all around, only seemed to be out of, of all things, the cherry-apple sausages at the meat counter. Found a 2 for $3 deal on organic pastas in there, they had plenty still, so that's an option for it if you need pasta and it's sold out elsewhere. Their fresh-grind oats mill was full, too.

Daily Deals on S Division:
WELL stocked. WELL. No shortages in there, just a lot of busy employees keeping up. It wasn't that much busier than normal, either.

Meijer on Clyde Park:
Don't even bother. Parking lot is Black Friday full. Actually, more so, it was filled all the way out to the tire shop on Clyde. That's a HUGE parking lot, so yeah, hell of a lot of people in there. We did not go in.

Menards on Clyde Park:
If you're willing to consider their little food department, it's getting pretty picked over. I'd just go across 131 and turn the corner to DD.

Parking lot assessment for Walmart & Aldi on their end of Gezon/54th:
Busy AF, but your call, we didn't go in either one.

And while everywhere we were in was busy, it wasn't a madhouse today and it seemed MANY people were just out to get out of the house and curb boredom, not get food. I think folks are already sick of the time off work & nothing to do, the roads began to get quite busy here after noon.

Edit: Almost forgot about the Grandville Costco -- we stopped at their gas station for a fill-up a little after 10am. There was a line all the way from the front door to the back of the building, and the parking lot was packed. The gas pumps were relatively quick & easy, though. We didn't go in, all we needed was the gas fill-up, but I imagine it was like Black Friday on steroids in there.

a reply to: ignorant_ape

Went to Walmart yesterday for TP bread and eggs. Stood in line at 6:30am
We made our way to the toilet paper isle and nothing. But what they did, was they had us line up in front of the back storeroom. A Wallmart employee was handing us one 12pack of TP and one 6 pack of paper towels.
Not much bread but got something, Sadly No eggs that day.

Next day went to Trader Joe’s for eggs. They were fully stocked in eggs and most everything else.

I feel like I’m reverting to my Hunter Gather instincts, going out early in the morning to find food. The wife was extremely grateful for me coming back with what she needs. At least i can feel sense of worth even though I’m not working.

We hit 5 stores today, before finding one that had TP.
The 6th store was charging $14.00 for 8 stupid rolls, at one bag per person.
I bought a bag of 8. Then my wife did the same.
Her father has COPD and was down to his last squares.
Thankfully we found some.

I'm still able to get what I need from grocery stores. I haven't had a problem with toiletries or food. I have had an issue with buying ammo and my other firearm cleaning stuff.

0 cases of this virus in my area of the UK , But you would think the world was ending with all the empty shelves and freezers in ALL the stores

Farmfoods ,Lidl ,Aldi tesco Coop etc were stripped bare ,no milk ,bread toilet roll or tins

a reply to: ignorant_ape

Not working....T.p. and milk ARENT GETTING REPLACED. At every store, gas stations and party store.

BUT I have a line thru a lady who owns a motel and has an attached store. But they haven't milk or paper products coming. Done...no products.