[gatherer47]

When all this craziness started I saw a guy with 32 jars of peanut butter in his shopping cart-wondered if he's finished it yet?

[Carla B]

Originally Posted by DonH57

I've been able to find rubbing alcohol for quite a while now along with hand sanitizer.

So, can you please give me an idea of some places to look for it? Our WMT never has it. We had some on hand when this all started but it's about gone. I need it to make wipes using baby wipes and rubbing alcohol.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by gatherer47

When all this craziness started I saw a guy with 32 jars of peanut butter in his shopping cart-wondered if he's finished it yet?

Was he heading for grape jelly?

[Graspher]

Originally Posted by bowlingal

maybe there was a recall on these, Graspher

I took the time to discuss this issue with 2 Publix locations - both said that their producer was impacted by the plague.

Thing is....all the major brands have nuggets on the shelves so I’m a bit skeptical. It’s 5 months later - nothing I can do except check the shelf each time I visit.

Might be a recall - us customers may never know what the real deal is!!

[Rsenholzi]

Most of the shelves are stocked with the stores own brand. A lot of difficulty if you want name brands instead. In some instances , there is no problem . Many frozen foods are well stocked.

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by davem4616

IMHO the Publix in Colony gets far more traffic than the one in Lake Deaton....

Hopefully with the opening of the new Publix on 466A, the crowding will subside at the Colony Publix. The new Publix is opening this week, I believe.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Would think a lot of it is based on poor management of some stores

You'd be thinking incorrectly then. Most products in Publix are brought in via automatic ordering system. Publix doesn't call Kellogg's and tell them "We need 20 boxes of this, 4 boxes of that, and two cases of the other thing." The bar codes scan into the system when you buy something, that goes into a matrix, and this very complex computer program lets the vendors know what was sold, how many of each. Then the vendor's computer program figures out which stores in which districts need which items in which quantities, and collects whatever is available to fill those orders.

If something is unavailable, it doesn't get shipped - but the rest of the order does.

I can't speak on behalf of every store in the country, but I can tell you this is basically the same as the system in Staples, and in Party City, Stop & Shop, and Big Y.

Management has very little control over what is actually sent to the stores, with certain exceptions.

[Medtrans]

Originally Posted by gatherer47

When all this craziness started I saw a guy with 32 jars of peanut butter in his shopping cart-wondered if he's finished it yet?

Maybe he was buying for a food pantry.

[EdFNJ]

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

We’ve had pretty good experiences with grocery ordering online and pickup at both Walmart and Sam’s Club.

The exceptions are sanitized hand wipes. Neither store even offers them for online ordering and pickup. I can’t believe neither store offers them inside the store.

Walmart (Leesburg) has had Clorix wipes a few times a week for the last month or so. Target was LOADED with them On Mon or Tues. They had 4 6foot shelves filled to the brim. Yesterday they were gone.

[davephan]

Originally Posted by gatherer47

When all this craziness started I saw a guy with 32 jars of peanut butter in his shopping cart-wondered if he's finished it yet?

That person was a speculator, hoping to make money reselling the peanut butter online at an inflated price.

During the shortages, we saw thing like yeast, for making bread, where a tiny 3 pack that normally sold for 89 cents, was selling to $10 to $15! We didn’t buy at that inflated prices, but I’m sure that some people did pay that much. Those speculators probably made a lot of money.

You’re better off if you don’t live hand to mouth. There’s still shortages on freezers. If your freezer quits working now, good luck trying to find one. People were buying a lot of food and freezing the food.

Now is the time to slowly stock up on toilet paper, paper towels, bottled water, disinfectant wipes, and other things that had shortages in the past. If you experienced running out of things that you couldn’t buy, now is the time to restock, so you aren’t burned again.

When the rioting, looting, and arson was occurring in Minnesota, I wanted to top off my half full two gallon lawn mower gas can. I couldn’t, because the gas station was closed due to “social disorder”. Another customer at the gas station was panicking because he couldn’t buy gas to fill his empty gas tank. He didn’t have enough fuel to drive home, and might not have enough fuel to drive around and find a gas station that was open in the middle of the afternoon because of the rioting, looting, and arson that might be reoccurring after nightfall. We used to top off our car’s gas tanks when they got down to half full. Now, we top off the tanks when we have driven about 100 miles since the gas tank was full. I think it’s irresponsible to drive around with a nearly empty gas tank.

It’s important to stock up on items, and stop living hand to mouth. Some people live their lives with only a burned out light bulb in their empty refrigerator!

[Green-Eyed Lady]

Originally Posted by LuvtheVillages

The stores are well stocked. The only item I cannot find is a tub of disinfecting wipes - like Lysol wipes or Clorox wipes. Also disinfectant spray is hard to find - like Lysol spray.

May not be your first choice, but we find most of the above at Dollar Tree!
In abundance....Good luck!

[bluedivergirl]

I've been shopping at Publix, Wal-Mart, and Winn-Dixie. I see shortages of canned soup at all three stores. They have some soup, but favorites are often unavailable.

I am also seeing shortages of canned soda, especially diet. Fresca has nearly disappeared. I'm hearing there is an aluminum shortage ~ not sure if it is the cans, or the metal, or a combo of both.

[Wrhobson]

I'm told the "aluminum shortage" (huh?) is responsible for the lack of Diet Caffeine-free Coke (or Pepsi) in cans. Why in the world would this be? Are people eating too much aluminum? Come on already!

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Wrhobson

I'm told the "aluminum shortage" (huh?) is responsible for the lack of Diet Caffeine-free Coke (or Pepsi) in cans. Why in the world would this be? Are people eating too much aluminum? Come one already!

Some explanations (it's not just a single cause, it's culmination of things):

1. For months, bars were closed. That meant beer normally contained in kegs, was then contained in cans and sold in supermarkets, where it was quickly purchased. Remember all those beer drinkers could no longer get beer at bars on tap. And bottled beer is more expensive then canned beer. If you're gonna have to drink your Bud Lite at home, might as well go for the can instead of the bottle. So - more demand for cans, as a result of zero demand in bars due to closures.

2. Ecological reasons. This is all happening during the era of recycling. Outside the Villages, maybe outside Florida, or perhaps outside the waste-belt completely - the rest of the country and most of the world is trying to reduce consumption of plastics. So they're turning to cans instead of plastic bottles for liquids.

Combine the two together and you have an aluminum shortage.

[Two Bills]

Why do people buy soup?
Saucepan, water, veg's of choice, add salt, pepper and herbs, boil, wreck it, and drink.
Gallons for pennies!