Empty Shelves
 

My spouse and I went shopping at Publix at Rohan yesterday for a few staples. We thought we would wander the aisles with our list and pick up a few that we didn't have listed. Very interesting what the Villagers thought to stock up on. Of course all meats, two legged or four, gone. Dairy products, eggs, milk, but not the whole milk, curious. Pasta, pasta sauces, rice, but not the Texmati brands, tuna fish, but not the brands packed in oil. Breads, any and all, no paper products, wipes, etc. Certain cereals, gone. So credit being to the hoarders, it looked like they were selective, but so many followed suit? Was there a preferred list of life saving foods and dry goods that were listed? Frozen veggies, gone, and I believe anything round with pepperoni gone.
Hopefully the panic buying is somewhat abated, but hope is dim.

My next question is to the medical experts out there, is what is recommended for the coronavirus fever if you are unfortunate to contract it, Angel Soft, Scot, or Charmin Ultra? Hate to have the wrong one and waste time in the application.

I noticed the same tendencies when I shopped last week. Will try again tomorrow and see if the hoarders are still out there buying. Just how much ramen noodles does a person need anyway?

My husband just returned from Colony Publix. The staff were removing multiple items from peoples carts. One women had 10 packages of bacon. They took 8 from her.

I’m not sure “hoarding” is the issue and I don’t believe many people have thought the whole scenario through. Has anyone taken into consideration that a huge number of people are now cooking at home who ordinarily dine out in The Villages and all over the country? People are also asked to limit trips into the public arenas and, I would assume, are trying to shop for an extended length of time to serve those purposes when they do shop. We shopped over a week ago planning on a two week time period and are watching the larder supply shrink. You are probably witnessing life in the USA without restaurants. Hopefully, we will all look out for each other.

Good for Publix, I wish they had started earlier before people wiped out the paper goods. Publix at Colony must have run out of wipes themselves, the ones when you enter the store, as employees were spraying the carts with sanitizers.

The hoarders be damned. Must understand that most people live in a constant state of fear. When a disaster strikes their first, and only concern is for themselves and and they never even consider their fellow human beings. Just run to the store and empty the shelves without even a thought toward others. This behavior is reprehensible, yet very common among people here in the villages. It appears that a “every man for himself” attitude is prevalent here and i see it everywhere i go. From hoarding seats in the town square, to hoarding pew end sears in church, to going an hour early to venues to hoard the best seats, etc, etc, etc.
People have to learn to live more kindly lives and stop thinking they are the only one on earth.
Apparently we need police at the supermarket checkout counter to stop hoarding and selfishness among our neighbors. Lets let those who are most in need get what they need to survive. However, human nature being such as it is, I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

They're not really hording at this point. At least not like they were when the initial panic hit. They're only allowed 1 or 2 packages of any given item per person. And no rainchecks.

What's happening, is the hording occurred weeks ago and the people who did NOT horde are now running low, and need to buy what they normally buy when they run low. And the folks who normally stock up when there are sales, and didn't do that when the hording started, are now in need of restocking. Combine with people who have visitors coming (please tell them not to come, for everyone's safety!) and need to stock up for next month's visits...

None of them can get any, and the horders still show up hoping to get that extra one 4-pack to add to their already plentiful collection.

As soon as the shipment arrives, the grocery clerks unpack them from the pallets, put them on their Uboats, and roll them out to the aisle. As soon as one person sees the word "Charmin" on that Uboat, all hell breaks loose. The TP never even makes it to the aisle, let alone the shelves.

The cashiers will NOT allow customers to buy more than one pack, and the grocery clerks do emphasize that to the customers while they're taking the packs off the Uboats. Invariably someone sneaks away with a second pack but they are confiscated when they get to the register. And then - on their way to being returned to the shelves, they are immediately snatched up by one of the folks who didn't get to the Uboat on time.

It's not quite as bad for cereal and tuna and soups, but it's definitely as bad as with baby wipes.

To anyone who lives in my section of the Villages - if you are SINCERELY AND TRULY low on TP (meaning - down to your last roll once the one in the holder is empty), please send me a private message. I can give you a roll. I have a limited "extra" supply of my own, and it's not Charmin or anything plush or comfy. It's the generic single-ply stuff. I couldn't stand the idea of one of my neighbors having to deal with no toilet paper in the house. We are a community of neighbors. What's mine is absolutely still mine - but if I have a surplus and you need it, I can spare some.

Just for comparison...

I happen to be in St. Pete on Monday and I stopped into one of my favorite delis; Mazzaro. The meat display was full, the prepared food displays (lasagna, stuffed shells, etc.) full again. They bake their own bread daily, FULL! All the shelves were full!

You can't fix STUPID. Appears that Villagers don't understand that Corona virus does not cause diarrhea. If you go shopping to hoard toilet paper it's probably safe to go for a couple packages when you are close to running out. Also, Toweling paper and paper napkins are likely to cause toilet plumbing issues. Why waste money on them when you can always resort to the Daily Sun.

To all the crazy people who literally shop daily to take all of the paper products, wipes, and multiple dairy, I hope stores will not take returns as they have in the past.

New thought, those who damn the people who shop at big box stores, and there is no need for them, because you don’t need that quantity.

Apparently there are places put bulk items and where to store them. Or maybe you have made forts out of toilet paper in your living room. After all your neighbors won’t know how crazy you are, because people are not social for 14 days.:a040:

xxx

This is happening all over the country.....not just in TV. Wake up!

"Or maybe you have made forts out of toilet paper in your living room. " :clap2:

People maybe were taking bunches for themselves....

Yes it does.

Kudos to Publix for cleaning the carts. Thumbs down to Sumter Landing Winn Dixie today. No wipes, sanitizer, or staff at the front door. Not very responsible in my opinion . I had paper towels and plastic gloves but that isn't the point.

I have a few wipes in a ziplock bag I keep in my purse. Might be a good idea for anyone heading to the stores right now.

Good for them! The grocery stores could do their part to stem this hoarding.

Everybody went home.

I think they should have started that sooner. I snagged a pork tenderloin a couple days ago but ended up giving it to the elderly woman in line behind me. Husband and I don’t need 3 meals a day. Courtesy is out the window

How do you know she actually needed it? And why did you take it, if you didn't need it?

What we need to do is practice self-restraint and personal accountability. If you need one, get one. If you don't need one, leave it for someone else to get, and don't take it in the first place.

The hording surely must be done by now. The stores have been in re-supply mode for the last couple of weeks.
There is no reason to think there is a potential food shortage.

So at some point shopping should be approaching normalcy....go to the store as per pre-hording and virus scare.

One would think!

Some things are still on catch-up, in particular hand sanitizers, thermometers, and rubbing alcohol.

Fortunately most (if not all) stores are enforcing strict limits on how many "of each" the customers are allowed to buy. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop the greedy from buying one of each - then returning to the store seconds later for another one of each. Or bringing their 3 kids with them and each of THEM buying one of each, etc. etc.

That's the nature of retail. There will always be people who will get around the rules, if they can - not because of any necessity, but simply because they can.

Most customers are honest and appreciated by the stores where they shop. A few - well let's just say it's usually the few who ruin it for everyone else.

I sure hope so. I never did any hording food and now when I go the the store not having good luck. The shelves are bare in many spots.
This COVID 19 is going to change the world as we know it.

I was at Winn Dixie and one of the employees was taping a sign asking shoppers to take only one wipe for the basket. Seems people were taking several. Ugh!

I really don't think so. People have short memories. Once we are well past this crisis and normalcy returns, it will be business as usual. I hope so anyway!

Believe me, I tried to take only one. Really, only one is all anyone needs. I pulled and three came out all at once and it was impossible to snatch only one without touching the other two. I'm really good at this too because I use these wipes all the time at the gym. So sorry.

Publix and Winn Dixie are out of the wipes at this point. I was at a Publix on 441 today and they had someone wiping down the cart handles and the front of the baskets. She let me know which baskets were already wiped down and ready to go.

I think the previous poster was referring to people who do it on purpose. We had that problem last week - customers were coming in and digging down into the dispenser stand, pulling up a couple of inches worth of wipes and stuffing them into ziplock baggies in their purses.

A couple of customers didn't even bother with that - they just opened the dispenser and took the whole box of wipes.

That might be one of the reasons there's someone wiping the carts down at the stores now FOR the customers - to reduce the amount of people who will just take the wipes.

I'm so disappointed in our fellow neighbors and friends. They should be ashamed of themselves. It is true what they say about seniors and the sugar packets and such from fast food places and restaurants. This is a sad reality.

What a nice thing you did! I commend you. :coolsmiley:

It wasn't exclusively seniors. But - given that the vast majority of customers to Villages supermarkets are seniors - it was mostly seniors.

To misquote a Mr. M. Gandhi.

There is enough food in the shops for everyones need,
but not enough for everyones greed!

I experienced this, as well, at LSL WD. Produce shelves very dirty, too. I have the sense WD is low on employees. I had my own sanitizing wipes but did get the feeling they didn’t care.

Coffeebean, ironically you responded to my post saying that Winn Dixie posted a sign to take only one wipe while I was there. Today I was back and guess what - three wipes popped out. I was embarrassed. Will try harder next time!