we did finally get a gun when this all started; H had been asking for years and I finally caved. But cannot find range ammo.
My target finally had Clorox cleaner! I have even found wipes and other similar products. for the first time my Target looked to be relatively stocked.
I was able to get rubbing alcohol for the cat shelter one day from Walmart.
low end printers, webcams, etc are still in short supply. All appliances as well.
How much of the shortages are related to imports from China?
With all of the obsession about hand sanitizer and the like, I had no problem finding a 10-pack of inexpensive bar soap at the store recently.
I forgot, also my town was out of hand soap for weeks. I ended up with a large hot pink bottle of princess soap from Dollar General for the office bathroom. I turned it around backwards so that the princesses don’t show.
My cleaning gal ha me on the lookout for 409 Multipurpos and Windex.
I could say this is a chance to maybe live simpler, find alternatives. Some days, I see so many trying to just go buy what marketers told us was/is so vital in our lives. Is it all?
Or were we somewhat fooled or lulled, not introspective?
Some commercial reminded me our parents and grandparents endured the Great Depression and WW2. On a good day, I try to remember and find a similar strength.
The cleaning gal said is backed up with a vinegar solution for cleaning glass…
I was excited to find rubbing alcohol in CVS for the first time since March today!
@lookingforward, good to remember our grandparents. My grandfather, who had a master’s degree, sold eggs door to door during the Depression to make ends meet.
For those missing out in Libby’s pumpkin, they appear to have shipped them all to my city. We had over 1000 cans in the center aisle at Walmart just now. I bought a couple because it’s usually hard to find this time of year and I make pumpkin bread on a regular basis year round.
My mother kept asking me to buy grapes but I couldn’t find them. She said to ask ‘the guy’ to look in the back but I refused. Now she admits they only sell them now in clam packs and you have to buy the whole thing for about $3.50/pound. No touching the fruit.
She’s found clorox/lysol wipes two weeks in a row so she’s very happy. I think we’re all getting a cylinder for christmas.
My friend on FB had a big discussion on Sprite Zero today, and its (lack of) availability. She stocked up when she went to Atlanta (go to the source when you need a Coke product).
I bought canned pumpkin today as well. Primarily because people on this thread said there was an issue in finding it! Now, I shall be prepared.
Well, I always buy a sugar pumpkin or two for decoration and later make my own mash. We have available canned pumpkin, Sprite Zero, and yes, corn.
Not to worry, I can worry, too. I did roughly calculate how much TP is needed to last 10 months. Lol.
My youngest daughter and her fiancee just purchased a new home. Since they agreed to purchase it when it was still in late construction they were able to pick appliances (the seller had listed that appliances would be included) and many of the finishings. My daughter would email the seller’s realtor with her appliance selections (which she made sure were in stock at our local Lowe’s and usually on sale when she found them) and the seller would wait, then find that they had run out of stock so she would have to locate different items. This went on for several rounds until finally they were able to get everything. Luckily they were able to get all of the light fixtures and bathroom vanities and toilets she requested.
They had received a quote to build a garage from a family friend back in July. They had to wait to give him the go ahead until they knew for sure the deal would go through. In the time between the quote and when they went into contract the price of lumber went up so much that the price of the garage was now going to be an extra $20,000 (it is much larger than your standard garage). They are now hoping that lumber goes down enough in the next few weeks so they can get this garage in by our upstate NY winter.
Pumpkin was so hard to get a month ago that I ordered a case off Amazon. I am glad to see it is back in stock now.
Paper towels and TP seem to still be touch and go. I have learned to love BJs brand paper towels when before all of this Bounty was the only ones I would use. Sometimes my local BJs is stocked to the gills with toilet paper or TP and other times the shelves are bare.
Our local Runnings had plenty of quart canning jars and I saw pint jars somewhere else. No spare lids or rings to be found though. A month or so ago when it was tomato season here I was so desperate for lids and rings that I took to Facebook to beg my friends lol. I was able to get 18 lids (I had luckily purchased some last year so had a small stock in the spring for jams) and a bag of rings from a couple of friends. Good thing too because I had 38 quarts of tomatoes and sauce that I jarred this year. I used every last jar I could find in this house lol.
Things like sugar, flour, and pasta seem to be hit or miss as well here (when certain brands of pasta are on sale the shelves will be picked clean), Rice R Roni (which I rarely buy) or those Lipton rice and noodle packets will be completely obliterated when they are on sale now but they are in stock for the most part.
I read that Progresso will stop making some of their soups and concentrate on fewer of the more popular varieties. Soft drink makers are facing a can shortage so are also only producing their most popular flavors (I have not found Mountain Dew Code Red or Cherry Vanilla Pepsi in cans since this all started).
I have learned to stock up when I see things but I refuse to be greedy. When I went to the grocery store for a bag of sugar last week I found the shelves to be completely empty but then came on someone who was refilling an endcap. There was no posted limit on the sugar and it was on sale so I could have purchased 10 bags if I wanted to but I stuck with two. My conscience tells me this is the right thing to do (the Golden Rule and all) but then I am also nagged by the fact that 80% of the world does not care about other people being able to get things when they need them. I am still quite angry about the hoarding mentality demonstrated by people throughout this pandemic.
^^^ I too am worried that another wave of hoarding is occurring. Sure buy a couple bags of sugar to have on hand. 10 bags? That’s overboard. (IMO)
I think next time I go to Costco if it’s available I’ll get Costco sized flour, sugar, brown sugar and stick butter - one of each - that should last through the holidays and then some.
I have several bottles of rubbing alcohol if anyone needs it!! DS and I (on separate coasts) wanted some dumbbells. Weights are also very hard to find- lots of folks wanting to get in shape and many weights are made in China.
Supply chains typically have some slack in them to adjust to isolated interruptions that happen from time to time. But this involved disruptions on a global level with significant changes in demand across virtually all business sectors. Adjustments can can be and are made but they take time. In addition, businesses need to determine it makes sense to make the adjustments. Longer the disruption, the more sense the adjustments typically make.
Same is true of other shortages. US can have sufficent bed space to address a pandemic without any shortages. But it just doesn’t make sense to have that available on an extended basis on the if come basis. Temporary field hospitals in that sense actually make sense.
I think there will be (or at least should be) changes with respect to US sourcing of certain critical supplies.
I was tempted to buy canned pumpkin at the grocery store this week per this thread but I reminded myself I don’t even like pumpkin products!
My D and SIL are selling their house and buying another property. Their buyer wants all of the appliances but the people they are buying from are taking appliances. I’m a bit afraid they will have an issue finding a refrigerator, washer and dryer.
I’ve been picking up flour when I see it. I noticed this week at Whole Foods that they no longer have a limit on 1 bag of flour. My H suggested I stock up on dried beans and pantry staples along with TP and paper towels. I’m seeing plenty of TP and paper towels in the stores but still no bleach wipes. Plenty of alcohol wipes and hand sanitizer. For the most part aside from cleaning products our grocery shelves seem full.
Plenty of grapes in the market. No need in my area to buy them in the clam shell. I’m not a big corn on the cob eater so have not noticed a shortage.
My husband put a bee hive in at our lake property. Now that it is fall he has to put sugar water out for them. We have purchased two 25 pound bags of sugar in the last 6 weeks. We get our sugar at Sam’s.
Deer hunting season starts soon in our area. That could affect the ammunition supply.
We bought corn this summer for $1 for 3 ears. Our DD2 and family plus our niece and her 4 children came for a week in late July. 5 adults plus 8 children meant lots of corn. I bought 48 ears at our local farmer’s market. We had none left.
Bud Platinum and High Noons are always out of stock.
Think my kids are beating me to store
I always buy Thanksgiving stuff early. Went today to do a normal shop. Canned Pumpkin was out, so was sugar ( I bought something called golden sugar?). Was able to get cranberry sauce but the stock was low. The stock was really low for stuffing too. The plain kind Pepperidge Farm you use to make your own.
I did notice some weird/odd things. Things which are normally not in big supply were really full. There was actually a stand with lentils. And some endcaps with rice. It looked like that store was preparing for people to buy staples.
Sadly, I was finally able to get sanitizer. Purell. Which is great. They only sold it by the case. So dumb. So now I have. A lot. When 12 people could have bought it had they sold it normally. Will give out to my friends. Who are presently well stocked.
Does anyone remember the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving? I used to joke when we went to some relatives that it was a “Charlie Brown Thanksgiving”. You never knew what you’d get…maybe popcorn, toast, pretzels, and jelly beans. Might be a pot luck Thanksgiving this year. Maybe people will be a little more “thankful” this year.
I went to Aldi today remembering that they seem to always have cans of pumpkin. Score, they had lots and I bought 4. I heard the register person say that sometimes they limit # of canned goods - wasn’t a limit today but apparently the limit is usually 4?
Also ended up getting two bags each of flour and sugar - again they had lots but it’s so inexpensive there! I should def have enough for holiday baking.