shopping in a pandemic

[Kbop]

The wife and I did our monthly shopping run this week.  a few observations;

Its kinda weird, last month there were few people wearing masks and now its downright fashionable to wear a mask in public.  Several had political statements, or affiliation signals, like 'go <favorite sports team>.

Sams has the pre-order thing down pat now - special parking spots - everything loaded on a cart and you just go in, pick it up and take it back to your vehicle.  If you need assistance, you just text from your car.  Most of the local grocery stores have a similar process - with the exception of the local Food Lion.

They all seem to be out of the same items - disinfectants are hard to find and toilet paper is mostly out.  Funny, Sams has the institutional TP and paper towels by the case but none of the 'supermarket' brands.  No other shortages noted - processed and raw meat are back on the shelves. plenty of fresh produce available.

A strip mall near the highway has more stores closed than open now. 

The roads are still lightly traveled out here.  Local rhetoric about CoVid-19 went from 'who cares?' to a more nuanced reply when people started dying in the local hospitals.  It's not only hitting the elderly in my local - its hitting first responders hard.  The local LEOs have the usual 'traffic enforcement' spots manned - i feel for them having to work in this environment.

the local food banks are overwhelmed in spite of record donations.  The food bank parking lot was full of late model SUVs and Pickups when we drove past it.

My across the street neighbors both have new jobs and are working again - they were laid off in March of this year.  My next door neighbor is working from home - just like i am.

the nearby church graveyard is having a burial a week instead of one a month now.  That could be pure chance - their average age has to be 60+.

 what are conditions like in your neck of the woods?

[DMCakhunter]

Thanks for the update.
More stores got on the masks required bandwagon last week. Solution is to buy enough to get through a while and minimize trips.
Like you, most products are available now, especially good cuts of meat. Yeast is even on the shelves (well as of last evening).
Cleaning supplies are short, as are soups, pasta selection and sugar. We don't drink much soda but the local news says there is a can shortage so only the most popular sodas are available. Beer is in good supply across all that I buy. Ammunition is pretty tight across the area - .380, 9mm, .40, .45. .223, wait, I could keep going but easier to say that only oddball stuff is on the shelves and it is very limited. Guns are in short supply as well. Missed the local show a week ago but was surprised when my dealer received a ruger 57 that I ordered 2 months ago. The supply of fishing items, lures, jigs, poles and reels are very thin. I know more people are spending time outdoors but seems the shops are not able to restock. Kayaks and bikes too.
Take care.

[Jackalope]

    We had our monthly shopping excursion last week. We pre-order our grocery items from Walmart, and do the pick-up routine.  There were no shortages or substitutions in our order, and we picked up our items in literally two minutes.  Food prices do seem to be increasing.

     We later went to our local Rural King, which is like a tractor supply store on steroids.  They have a gun department, and the ammunition was wiped out.  There were a few boxes of some odd ball calibers, but that was it.  Feed prices have dropped a bit, we're paying $9.00 for a 50 lb. bag of layer bits.  I've been stocking up, in case there are supply interruptions later this year.  We also picked up some more Rhode Island Red chicks for our next generation of layers.  We have some chickens that are 8-9 years old, and due to my spouse's Buddhist beliefs, I'm not allowed to kill chickens, so they live a long time here.  Anyways, Rural King sells young poultry year round.  What was interesting is that there was a continuous line for poultry purchases.  The line wasn't getting any smaller while I was there, and they were getting low on certain chicken breeds, so people here seem to be stocking up.  Most folks were wearing masks, though it's not mandated.

     Later in the week we hit a few garage sales.  The sales were outdoors and most folks wore masks.  I managed to pick up some 9mm and .308 cleaned, resized, and deprimed brass for an excellent price.  I also purchased a mountain bike so that I can start getting in better shape.

      Next week, the world's longest garage sale occurs in these parts. The sale flows through 6 States, and it's 690 miles long.  Needless to say, all kinds of things can be found at that sale.

[JoJo]

 We shop every week and have seen the prices sky rocket. Supermarkets aren't selling bleach by the gallon but by 21/2 liter for $3.69. My buys one or two bottles of bleach every week. Toilet paper and paper towels though not plentiful are limited to one per customer and we buy that every week also.
 Concealed carry permit applications are taking off, just in my county this month there were over Two hundred of which I am one.   
 Ammo is very scarce, those that have it want hugh prices. 
 Supermarkets aren't crowded, people seem to be more concerned with face masks being used. I went to the hospital for a broken rib and the nurse said there were only two or three china virus patients there. 

[pkveazey]

I'm probably screwing up but I have been putting off going to the Grocery Store. I've got a pretty good stock of Perishable and Nonperishable food but I think I should reload on Brown Rice and Paper Towels. I probably should also load up on Cokes because I fear there will come a time when I won't be able to find them. As far as Ammo goes, I stocked up during and after the last dry spell and I don't do a lot of target shooting so I still am in good shape. Here's something for everyone to consider. When things get really bad, we'll all be eating a lot of Rice and Dried Beans. Keeping a really strong supply of Salt, Black Pepper, and Apple Cider Vinegar in stock will make that bland crap actually taste pretty good.

[grizz]

Walmart and a few other stores have mandatory mask wearing so I've been going to other stores.

A friend said she went into walmart with a mask and was told if she had a medical condition she could remove her mask BUT nobody is permitted to ask what her condition is.

[pkveazey]

I carry one with me but never wear it unless I absolutely have to. In Virginia, we don't have to wear a mask if we have a medical condition that the mask would interfere with and we also don't have to disclose what the condition is. Did you know that if the COVID 19 death rate doubled it would still only be 0.09%. The Swine Flu killed 59 million people and nobody said squat. Covid 19 killed 3 million and you'd think we were all going to die tomorrow.

[gadget99]

Here in the UK the government has instituted a policy requiring masks in all stores and shops. There are some who have an exemption, yet on the whole the vast majority are following the rule without a problem.

Now in relation to shopping and the supply chain. At the beginning of the lock-down. The supply chain went immediately into planning on how to deal with the situation. They streamlined things and reformatted their business models. The variety has been lessened in the supply chain and stores. This has allowed for the ability to ensure the supply of the essentials are fulfilled.

As an example of businesses adapting. Since the pubs and restaurants were closed for a good while. The wholesalers that supplied them. Reformatted their operations and opened to delivery to the consumer. Not only did this keep them open these suppliers found the offering in such demand that they announced the continuation of the service from this point forward.