We go regular grocery/staples shopping every two weeks...places like Target, Costco, Trader Joe's, traditional grocery store, etc. That day happened to be yesterday for us. We started at Target, where I needed a jug of bleach and some Kleenex. The bleach was completely wiped out, as were many other cleaning supplies. The shelves in that whole area were practically bare, unless you wanted furniture polish!
Paper goods were also getting dangerously low, but I was able to buy one of the last 4-packs of Kleenex.
Costco was crazy. We got there around 11 am and the store was packed. Lots of carts were filled with toilet paper and water. Those supplies were nearly out. The store had actually hit Def-con Spam level, as there were only 8 cans of it left. One guy had at least 30 cans of Kirkland canned chicken in his cart. I mean, maybe he was planning a family reunion and chicken salad sandwiches were on the menu for lunch...or maybe not. At least one or two people were walking around the store with masks on.
Trader Joe's and our regular grocery store were definitely busier and, as a previous poster stated, it seemed like people were buying more of the quick meal stuff...pasta, sauces, etc. One gentleman walked down the frozen food aisle at TJ's and just seemed to be picking up one of each different entree. Perhaps that was just his regular way to shop, I'm not sure. I didn't stop to ask, but I had never seen anybody do that before, so it was interesting to watch.
When I finished our grocery shopping, I did take a few minutes to walk around Barnes and Noble. It seemed quieter than usual for a Sunday afternoon. Great news though!!! They still had tons of books, puzzles, and magazines, so nobody must be worried about dying of boredom during their quarantine period yet! Public service announcement: Be sure to stop by your local bookstore or library and stock up on "paper products" before they sell out. You are going to need something to do while eating all of those snacks you stocked up on.
Now, in response to the initial discussion, we typically have a good supply of food and other necessities on hand. Our once every two week shopping trips are generally used to pick up fresh items and replenish what we are getting low on. We could go for quite awhile piecing together meals from our pantry and freezer without heading to the store. However, there was a part of me, while I was watching stocks of certain items drop, that wondered if I should be picking up extra items as well, not because I wanted to stock pile, but what if I needed canned chicken in two weeks, but everyone had bought it all up? (Spoiler alert: I left the canned chicken on the shelf.) I did pick up extra of certain items like bar soap, laundry detergent, etc. I figure that if I get that stuff now, I will need fewer trips out later, plus my shopping trips will hopefully be more targeted in-and-out type affairs where there will be limited contact with people and crowds. My shopping experience left me wanting to stock up just so I could avoid a repeat of what I went through yesterday just trying to do my regular shopping. I only sense this getting worse in the near future as cases start popping up in different states and more people head to the stores, "just in case." At some point the hype will die down and people will go back to shopping normally, but I don't think we have hit the peak yet.
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