SHORTAGES – What Are You Seeing Out There?

At grocery yesterday, half meat counter empty, shelves near empty on several sodas, sugar very limited, butter way down, several items in freezers gone. Checkout then remarked how hard it was getting to replace some items. Don’t know where this is headed, but doesn’t look good.

From what I’ve noticed, there is not a problem getting anything here in China right now. Things in the stores are just like before the pandemic. Everything is fully stocked in the stores. During the lockdown here in China, had some trouble getting beef dumplings for a while but now it’s back to normal.

Everything seems to be in stock but many food items are limited to 4 or less per item.I worry about food items only, I have enough junk/stuff to last me through this mess.
Food prices are the thing that will cause riots, it’s all I’m focused on.

– We have grands visiting from Pennsylvania where they live with son’s ex. DW was complaining that she cannot find cans of Cream Soda any kind, anywhere. Other sodas, yes, but not those. Several posters have commented about change shortages; There seems not to be a problem in west Texas, just FWIW.

Meats and canned goods, we seem to have pretty good supply. Ammo, Good Luck! I will have to shoot (50 rounds) this Saturday to renew my CCL. I found .38 for a ridiculously high price. 9mm, 20 rounds for $18 and only one brand available, no more than 2 boxes at one time… I may use my .32 as I have several boxes on hand for it, (I have a chamber adapter for .32 for my .308 deer rifle, .32 makes it a decent substitute for a .22 without having to carry a second rifle) that way I can keep serious ammunition and .22 on hand.

– Papa S.

Ammo. Ammo. Ammo. Cooking appliances seem low. Toys. Camping gear, especially cook related, are empty. Ironically, plenty of toilet paper and .22lr

At our local Kroger some veggie canned foods are still light. There have been no organic canned veggies in months. Some rice items. No Spam. Noodles/spaghetti and some tomatoes sauces. Fresh meats are light but there is plenty. TP is light as well as some other paper products. NO rubbing alcohol, nada, clerk says it has been empty for long time. Basically the store has what you want. At this time there are no limits. Wally is almost normal as well as Dollar General.

JMHO
The BLM riot BS
And make no mistake,
BLM is BS,
Was not getting the sympathetic ear they wanted to build up the democraps. So they are shifting gears,,,

Things are getting better as far as grocery stores and even Walmart in my area .
Ammo, if you do find some the price is higher. Also, has anyone try to purchase a freezer. My wife and I have a small one, but looking for a larger one. You cannot find any in stock. Stores are saying that they will have them maybe back in stock sometime in October. I do not trust buying from craigslist or from anyone that I don’t know.

Freeze Dried Food is either non-existent, or exorbitantly priced. Auguson – only 6 types on wmt dot com, prices on those have about doubled; similar situation at AMZ, although they hide it a bit better through clever structured pricing schemes. At both e-com sites I’ve noticed a new brand of FD foods called “Mother Earth”. These guys seem to be positioning themselves at the same price point as Auguson and EE once did; but with an average of 75% less product!

Regular grocery stores are still very thin, with creative shelf facing to conceal the truth. Wife and I went to 99 Ranch last weekend and that was a pleasant surprise! They were well stocked on everything, including rice; available for sale without purchase limits, for the first time in months. They even had a couple of varieties on sale at <$1 per pound in large bags. Their produce prices have skyrocketed though. Has anyone been following the coconut picking slave monkey scandal out of Thailand? Well, fresh coconuts literally doubled in price, in one week. In some sort of twisted sympathy, mangos and papayas too have doubled in price. Green produce is all at 'regular' prices; no sales.

For online purchases, I find myself spreading out the orders to 5 or 6 different merchants, when 1 or 2 always used to get it done. Way too many "out of stock" tags now.

Went to Aldi’s about two weeks ago, and found sugar non existent. They did have a pallet of all purpose flour that seemed pretty full. Went to another store and found all cleaning supplies down at least 60% with many holes. That was all that I noticed as I was only in each store about 10 minutes just to get a few key items since I had family coming for a week.

Costco in the upper State of Jefferson
Pharmacy area:
Kirkland nighttime pain medication(blue/lt blue capsule),Kirkland day time pain medication(lt blue/red capsule), Kirkland Acetaminophen, latex gloves, Isopropyl alcohol, chewable melatonin, round cotton make up pads.
Store division:
Kirkland Dog biscuits, zip lock bags-all sizes N/A, Kirkland stretch wrap-plastic wrap, Kirkland glass jar peaches, Kirkland corn, Kirkland green beans, canned mushrooms, Kirkland trash bags.
This was from my—jic list.

pint canning lids
water bath canner

freezers

food shelves have recovered somewhat, but no:
bread flour
bread machine yeast

no limits on meats anymore, but who can pay the price they are charging !!??!!

rice limited availability
canned veggies limited availability

Ammo limited to two or three boxes.

Perhaps a companion topic would be how to adapt to shortages.

Local rural king farm store, biggest gun dealer around, zero 9mm .40 s&w .308,.556,.223 on and on. Some .22 few.45. Normally this store has stacks of all calibers. W world has had no canned peaches for a month. No Clorox wipes since march. And any hand sanitizer sold in this town all say kills 99% bacteria not virus.And when we ordered another half beef from local locker to split with son and family they put us on the list for 6 months from order date instead of usual 1 month wait.Here also no freezers anywhere to be had. I was going to get a third one to put back for potential need of one of our two older freezers quit.I am so glad to have the extremely deep pantry that we’ve built over the last years.

For over a month, there hasn’t been any store brand aspirin in stock at grocery store or WM. Finally found at WM and the price was 4x what it was pre-pandemic. Noticed at WM yesterday, the sugar stocks were at about 50%. No dried chives and it seemed the seasoning and herb area had shrunk. Almost no bikes. My DH is particular about some of his packed lunch items and his whiskey. I buy both when I see them but have noticed I am taking the last of both most of the time.

I will add my other observations from this week to open forum.

Costco and Sam’s both have holes in their shelves in many areas, especially canned meats. Moderate amounts of tp and pt available. Lysol and Clorox cleaning supplies not to be found. No peaches at Costco here either. No gloves, isopropyl alcohol, peroxide, hand sanitizer, or liquid hand soap.

Ammo supplies low or high priced, usually both.

Things are better than two months ago for most things but not quite back to normal either.

I went to wally world for the first time in 4 1/2 months a couple days ago. They had limited rice and pasta but what floored me was there was NO cereals! That isle was empty except for a few boxes of granola bars. I was shocked to see that so bare. Meats and chicken looked decently stocked, and I went in for auto supplies to do more oil changes and other auto maintenance—those things were well stocked.

There was bleach but no other cleaning products so I got a couple of gallons. Prepared foods like hot dogs and lunchmeats were light. Tilamook cheese was sparse but I did get a couple of blocks.

12 /24 volt fridge freezers available online. Many are dual voltage such as 120 ac 12/24vdc. search online I ordered one yesterday, 7 day delivery not bad

Just got back from grocery store and feed store. Grocery still very well stocked. Feed store runs out of feed very quickly. Trucks deliver on Thurs feed gone by Friday. Only thing I really noticed is canning supplies out of stock everywhere.

Banks claim a coin shortage. (Getting us ready for cashless? Nudge. Nudge.). And as far as the canned goods shortages didn’t we read last year that the factories that make the cans shut down? I think due to the no-plant situation and loss of crops. I would buy frozen veggies and can them yourselves if you have the jars and pressure canners. Just a thought.

Lumber appears to be in short supply as well. I have a contractor replacing a 35 year old deck, and so far they have had to get three deliveries of lumber as it comes in. They are struggling with getting enough to finish what they have started.

I put this in Open Forum this weekend: We made a Sam’s Club run yesterday and it was sobering to see so many empty shelves! The top two tiers were totally empty in all aisles in Erie PA. Then the others that were stocked lower were sparse. They had TP but no paper towels. Many of their non-food items were low in inventory as well as their food items. Spices were low too. I picked up another organic cinnamon and onion granules to store. Next to no beef, no ham slices but did have some bacon. And there were workers throughout the store stocking what they did have available.

My friend that works at Walmart says the public has their head in the sand. They come in and get angry that they don’t have items in stock and don’t have a clue why it cannot be obtained. Next to no camping gear remains and fishing items are going fast too. The same thing is happening at John Deere. Replacement parts and new items are taking longer to get in, if you can get them.

I have also since been to my Amish store to pick up another gallon of Maple syrup and spices my hubby needed for his workplace. They have had a bit more difficulty getting items they order in or gather at stores like WM. She did have canning lids though and said they were left over from spring which truly surprised me.

This Wednesday, I did the Aldi run for my family (spent $66) and a large grocery store run for my elderly friend. Aldi’s in our area of western NY cannot get sliced (deli) ham. Their sugar and flour come and go but the bag size is smaller and the price keeps getting higher. They have limits on most everything. Canned veggies are limit 4. Their pastas have been much more limited with only two types lately. Their sodas are fewer also. It also appears they are changing the store floor plan.

Keep in mind that many stores removed freezers from their floor plans a couple months ago because it costs money to operate them and they knew they were going to have reduced frozen items available. You do not take a freezer totally out of commission for a short period of non-use. It means they expect many items will NOT return so no need to run the extra freezers.

In addition, there will be olive oil shortage soon (buy your oils now) and most likely apple shortages – the first because of crop damage and the second because WA state’s gov is a moron.

Went to Costco this week for the first time since early March. Couldn’t get any honey, and a limit of one on bacon. Otherwise they weren’t badly stocked. Prices hadn’t increased as much as our local grocery chains, Hyvee and Fareway.
They haven’t had canned fruit in the Costco here for a year or more. I bought 15# of rice for $6.49. No limit. They had Spam and canned chicken…I didn’t look at the price as I can my own meat and chicken.
Our local stores are pretty well stocked this week. Still don’t have yeast, I get that at our Amish store, as well as bulk goods, like flour, oatmeal, pasta, spices & herbs.

Southeast Michigander here. My experience regarding food stuffs is similar to what has already been mentioned; although I can’t figure it out. Frequent a local Aldi store, canned ham has been non-existent since the start and still hasn’t returned. Fortunately I had a box-full in storage that needed to be used up. Bread flour; same thing. Can’t find it. Like others have said, shelves have returned to normal for the most part but still holes are obvious in different areas of the the stores. Stocked up on so much lunch meat at the beginning of the meat shortage, that I won’t need any of that for the next six months. The really funny thing about the whole shortage thing: I wasn’t lacking for ANYTHING—except for, you ready—hand sanitizer! Not a bottle in stock. Never crossed my mind, never read it on a prepping list. Tons of sanitizing wipes though. Now N95 masks? Lots. That was for when Yellowstone blew…LOL! Unfortunately, I’m serious.

here on the gulf coast appliances. lawn and garden tools, are non existent. groceries are good as well as paper products. hamburger can be had if you take a second mortgage on your house, ha ha.I have family that works in a local meat market. we can buy a beef roast and have it ground cheaper than we can buy commercial hamburger and it tastes so much better. I may not go back to commercial HB again. there are no appliances, no tillers, no lawn mowers to be had, none, just to mention a few. I wonder how much of what we bought before came from china or mexico. well they can keep it. i’ll do with, or fix what I have. I’m as guilty as anyone of having a disposable lifestyle, but no more.

can’t get any canning supplies. fortunately I have plenty. I just hate going into my backups. but that’s what I have them for. they may be available this winter so I can restock

No Jasmine or Basmati rice in any quantity to be found.
No retail fruit trees to buy – no plum, apple, peach, or pear.
No Covid-19 tests with less than 10+ day result wait.
Freeze dried meals (Mountain House) are in very short retail supply.
No Otis elevator repair parts. That is the excuse at work, I think it is forced exercise with a mask stressor.

Shortages in some housewares at Walmart.

Ammo all gone, canned fruit, intelligent Democrats

at Walmart a couple of weeks ago, there were NO generic drugs, such as aspirin, antacid, etc. Plus they had rearranged their whole store and you couldn’t find anything. When you did find the new location of the department you wanted, you usually couldn’t find the item.

In WA, my husband reports ammo is down to steel casing rounds for 223 and 9. Still some brass in odd sizes but all popular sizes are missing. No Glock of any kind available for love nor money. Other high priced hand guns still available, but mostly collectors items. Shotguns in 12 Guage not available. Some 20 guage on occasion. Here in Mass, no one knows what a gun is since no one would give you a permit to buy. (You don’t know how badly I just want to pick up a lease for any address in Nh and start shifting north)

Food in WA seems to be ok, but meat needs a mortgage. So my hubby is eating veg at home and buys something with meat for a meal from out local New Mexican restaurant. Stores and Costco are fronting what they have but are missing lots.

Food in Mass has lots of creative fronting. Fresh Veg is easy to come buy now at stores and farms. Canned food is very mainstream. No low salt available in cans. Very limited organic anything in cans. Almost no convenience food in cans (ie. no ChefBoyardee, etc). BJs and Costco have lots of canned fish (Tuna, Sardines, Etc) , Spam, and Chicken. Fresh meat at both is available, but very pricy, lots of folk looking and moving on once they see the price.

Plenty of fresh fruit, just got lots of peaches in my CSA this week, but canned fruit of any type is scarce.

Anyone on a restricted diet will need to cook from scratch. Hard to find low salt, low fat, Low carb, gluten free, etc products.

No freezers unless you get lucky.

Gardening supplies are pretty sold out. Can still get fertilizer and pesticide type items, but even basic gardening tools are sold out. Every one has at least something as a victory garden.

Basic OTC drug store items are out. Evening Primrose oil available. Lots of holes in Vitamin C, D3, and Zinc. Along with aspirin, melatonin or any kind of sleep aid.

Finding Lysol anything is like participating in a snipe hunt.Ocean State Job Lots has a ton of sanitizer (no limits) – alcohol based. Also any kind of soap in pumps is non-existent. However bar soap is readily available.

Freezer convenience foods are somewhat back, but a limited number of varieties.

Bike shops are still pretty empty. They got cleaned out in th early spring. No way to get a back yard swimming pool. Pool supplies are in low supply.

Went to Wegmans today in Northern Virginia. Didn’t need much but needed to pick up a prescription. Of the things on my list – there was no vinegar at all. Also I’ve been looking for caffeine free Pepsi for several weeks and no one has it. When I was leaving I saw a woman I know (a long time employee) so asked her about it. She said both Pepsi and Coke were experiencing a shortage of tin. They’re obviously concentrating on their best sellers (and cafffeine free isn’t one of them). Plenty of Wegmans brand TP and paper towels. Picked up several Goya products.

Ammunition of all calibers is short. It is either unavailable, twice as expensive or old surplus. Weapons are in short supply for purchase.
Dawn soap is still unavailable where I live in the Arkansas Ozarks. Most meats are good. Toilet paper is still incredibly in short supply in the grocery store but available at the Dollar Store. Goya products (dried beans) are in short supply due to the Buy-cott. Milk and eggs sell out very quickly.

In western WI. Shortage of all ammo except hunting rifle rounds. So frustrating when you want to practice but not spend your reserves. Can’t find diet root beer at all. Coke man in the store said all the warehouses were out Minneapolis Cincinnati St. Louis..once I’m out I guess it’s time to give up pop for good. Said production was way behind. Dad says cant find liquid dishwasher detergent. Grabbed last two bottles here on this side of state in our Sams. Shelves that were mostly full even during panic buying are now finally looking bare in this neck of the woods. We kinda were sparred being smaller population area. But it’s getting damn scary out there. The family wife and kiddo think I worry too much. But I know what horror awaits in a collapsing country. We don’t right this ship damn quick this is gunna be ugly. Good luck all.

I’m in SW WA. I shop for my family as well as my 70 year old mother. Our Costco has been out of canned tomato sauce (all brands) for weeks, disinfectant wipes, a lot of items are spread over multiple pallets so as to fill empty spaces.

Grocery stores are hit and miss on a few things but have been pretty well stocked just with noticeably lower quantity. Yeast has been hard to find but no limits when it’s in. It seems kind of random the items that are out or low. One week it’s this another it’s that. Canned food is low stock on shelf every time I go. We raise or buy local our own meat so haven’t seen that section. Vegetable section I haven’t been in since garden season started but I was noticing huge quality/freshness issues on most items a month and a half ago.

Central WI WM
Everything “looks good”
Multiple faces of individual items to mask out of stock items.
I didn’t look around much today
Rice was there but mostly fronts, empty behind the fronts.
Brats, multiple faces of whatever they recently got in to the store
and several varieties missing.
Lunch meats are thin, multiple faces again of whatever they have the most of.
Ground beef, mostly the high fat 70/30 is available, the ground chuck
is only available in 2 1/2 pound overpriced.
They are getting inventive to cover holes and missing SKU items.
I did notice many things missing in the freezer section, pizza’s were
very light on stock.
Ice cream items were all good.
All I wanted was my allergy med, band-aids and pepsi.

I didn’t look this time but 2 weeks ago the otc pain meds were very light on stock.

Over abundance of junk/crap food.
I did notice the cereal section is mostly devoid of healthy choices.

Central Texas.. grocery stores low on pasta, butter; meat prices high. Sams club has been hit or miss on paper towels and TP. TP price I noticed stayed the same but the quantity changed. Hard to find unsalted butter. No generic Tylenol.

Coins in short supply in central va. Ammo and guns etc as well. Getting my ammo & reloading stuff thru ammoseek.com. Gravers full up at the moment

Grocery stores. Sorry

Wally world in northern michigan is spotty on stock but sav-a-lot and dollar stores are fully stocked , ammo is non existent everywhere

Ran down to our Walmart (Mid Hudson Valley. NY) to get a replacement toaster oven. Except for the display model there were none there except a couple super high priced models. A toaster oven? Walmart’s a super JIT’er looks to me to be a serious delivery problem.

Made our first trip to Costco since march. I haven’t heard of shortages in Costco anymore but I sure did see them first hand. I can only say what I was looking for. No large packages of yeast, no Generic Tylenol or regular tylenol, no Lysol, very little cans of meat, didn’t see any vinegar and my potato chips weren’t there! Old man said there was no 5w20 motor oil, and no yellow and black totes. I noticed several limit signs but since I didn’t need those things I didn’t pay attention. Several things that they had coupons for were gone. You can find some canning supplies at our small walmart but jars are very limited and no wide mouth pints anywhere. Also cider vinegar was out and only some regular vinegar. Canned meat is extremely limited. Also finding very little deli ham.
I used to have a group of people that bought freeze dried food with me once a month. That stopped back in March. Recently I have had at least 5 people call me inquiring about where to buy FD food. I tell them it is to late and what there is, is extremely expensive. All meat is usually sold shortly after it hits their website and none are under $60 for a #10 can. I tell them look for canned meat and buy all you can afford.
One thing no one has mentioned, I have noticed bottled water is extremely low where ever I go. Couldn’t get Old man to buy anymore, we have it stacked all over!

A lot of Chinese products are no longer available. I’m okay with that.
What is in short supply that you are willing to give up?
We haven’t bought pop (soda), cereals, processed foods for years. We do occasionally buy bread that we don’t want to make and we can stock up on butter to preserve easily by making ghee (clarified butter). We do not use any medications at all, just multi-vitamins and we brew our own wine. We have enough powdered eggs to last for years and bought ammo dirt cheap years ago.
Our biggest need right now is processing a gigantic tomato harvest; we have dozens of jars and lids (which also are very hard to find now) but time is going to be a factor.
I would suggest stocking up on Morton canning salt and white vinegar.

Quality firearms and ammo are in short supply in East Texas. Also latex gloves are still as rare as unicorns or living friends of the Clintons.

One alternative to not being able to find firearms and ammo is to look on Armslist.com. You can do a nationwide search, or just your state. Under categories you can search for type of firearm, and under accessories you will find ammunition. Some dealers will ship. In the state where I live I am actually surprised at the number of firearms available. Earlier this week I sold a .380 auto through Armslist and using a local dealer with an FFL to do the transaction legally. In the local sporting goods stores, including big box like Scheels handgun ammunition is in very short to non-existent supply. I have found a good supply of 22 magnum at a good price at WM. I use it and 22 LR for practice with a rifle and a pistol.

Elastic for making face masks and other things
Sewing machine needles
Hand sewing needles
Threads – all
Cloth fabrics
Toilet paper
Paper towels
Instant potatoes
Canned beans – all
Cup of noodles
Soups – canned
ISO alcohol
Nitrile gloves
Face masks
Cold meds – all
Hand sanitizer
Disinfectant wipes
Bleach
Dawn dish soap
Laundry soap
Bar soap
Rechargeable batteries
Rope
Para cord
String
Flowerpots
Tuna
And beef is so expensive…

Good idea for an article, Ken. A lot of times I’ve been reminded of something I should make sure I have because someone has mentioned it in a comment somewhere.

In the Missouri Ozarks…
I went to the grocery store (Hy-Vee) a few days ago and was surprised to see a whole lot of yeast, both in packets and in blocks, and a whole lot of powdered milk. I bought more of both, even though they weren’t on my list, and I hate powdered milk. I think I probably have more than I will need of some stuff, but that will allow me to share with my neighbors, if need be. (Please don’t turn this into a conversation about not sharing/staying gray; I know the risks and will probably take some of them anyway.) There were plenty of fresh fruits and vegies, but I’m not buying those anyway unless they can be well-washed (melons, bananas) or I plan on cooking or canning them. I saw no shortages of meat, and while the prices were higher than I like, they were less than they were a month or two ago. There are still empty spots at the back of a lot of shelves, but it’s not as obvious as it had been.

Canning jars were prominent on a couple of endcaps (ends of aisles), but I have lots already, and I think they were a bit expensive. I’ve never seen them displayed like that before; there are usually just a few boxes tucked away on a shelf. My guess is that there’s a higher demand for those AND if the endcaps are filled with non-grocery items, the shelves are fuller of food, making the holes less noticeable.

I’ve only looked for ammo once since this all started, and ended up buying nothing because they didn’t have much at all on the shelves, and none of what I wanted. I’d really like to stock up on some more of certain calibers, but I haven’t been going out much, so I haven’t been checking.

West MI stores are back to normal for TP and paper towel. Hand sanitizer is readily available as well. No Lysol spray to be found since March. No disinfectant wipes either. Fresh meats and chicken pretty well stocked although cost is high. No Goya products either, was gonna do my part with the buy-cott!! I think my Meijer (regional big box/grocer) is better stocked than my local Walmart. Pressure treated lumber also hard to come by. DH does HVAC and air conditioners are not available from any suppliers at all.

No bicycles.

chicken, iceberg lettuce was nowhere in the commissary when the wife and I went on Tues. Also very little tp and pt.

This may sound strange but I have a hard time getting some brands of beer from our distributors. Sometimes a particular brand will be a three week wait. The meat counters at the grocery stores are thin but the price has eased back. The local lockers are six months out to have a beef processed. In the grocery stores there are pallets of canned vegetables four for five dollars but I have never heard of the brands. If you want to buy #10 cans of vegies there in no shortage, name brand at six dollars a can.

Fresh turmeric. Not that I use them often, but want to grow them if they are hard to find like these few months. Ginger too.
Powdered are still acceptable but it’s better when… When they’re gonE… Poofs!!

rumford baking powder- aluminum free.. Non gmo cornstarch. not for months…

My wife bought some Purell Foodservice Surface Sanitizer (available in spray bottles and gallon-sized containers) well before the holidays simply because it is so effective at cleaning/sanitizing, and we’ve finally worked through our supply. Cannot get it to save our lives. Everything Purell is going straight to healthcare and food industries. It’s just gone.

Lysol Wipes & Spray and Clorox Wipes. IF you can locate them, they aren’t ever included in ship/delivery/curbside orders. Must go INSIDE the store and they’re never available.

This is in the Louisville, KY area.

******* TO ALL THOSE WHO OFFERED SUCH WISE ADVICE REGARDING THOSE 5 ACRES WE WERE TRYING TO PURCHASE ********

Thank you. All of you. There’s such wisdom among this group of friends and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your willingness to share it always. Unfortunately, we did NOT get the lot. Someone outbid us and we weren’t willing to get stupid with our $ to “win.” There are a couple others we’re looking at, so all of your advice and suggestions will come in handy. Just have to be patient for the right one to come along. It’s in God’s hands. But thank you all again. Truly an awesome army of kick butt men and women here and this lowly MSG appreciates the snot out of you. And Ken…thank you, sir, for creating this den of wisdom.

To me it seems there are two things going on; shortages and the prices of some of what is available. Ammo is in short supply and pricey. Bikes don’t seem to be available. Can’t get a pressure canner. I was looking for a replacement handle for a splitting maul and went to store after store, online etc before finally finding one at a local hardware store. Waited on a list for my freezer but finally got one. Was at Walmart and they aren’t even pretending to make it look stocked. This particular Walmart is pretty poorly stocked on a good day but now it’s unreal. Huge open areas with nothing; clothing, bikes and who knows what used to be there.

Food seems to be coming back although lots is quite pricey. Dairy seems to be well priced in general as is some fresh veggies. Had to pay $5 for a small bag of onions though. Some stuff has literally doubled in price or more. Saw small cans of canned fruit for $2.49. Ditto for cans of tuna. Died beans had nearly doubled in price. Tomato sauce was very expensive. Only frozen berries have been store brand for some time now although at least there were some to buy but not many.

I noticed that there are far fewer sales on grocery items now and mostly seems to be for junk. I used to be able to buy healthy stuff like pasta, beans, tuna, peanut butter etc on sale and now that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Along with the shortages, the sticker shock of prices is worrisome. My income has gone down but prices are climbing.

-ammo with the exception of a few hunting calibers
-canning supplies
-flour/sugar/baking section has remained low
-pressure treated lumber has been almost non existent for 2-3 weeks

I’d start thinking fall/winter time items now as well, driveway salt/snowblowers (and parts), wood pellets/oil/etc. Not that I think they’ll necessarily be a shortage on oil but if everyone is still home people are going to be calling the oil man more frequently and may tend to more snow removal on their own rather than hiring someone to do so.

Here in the mid-south there are shortages or back-orders on freezers and canning supplies. I found canning supplies at Tractor Supply but they had to be shipped to our little town store.

The closest town with warehouse stores is an hour away and I have been able to get food and house-hold supplies; some are shipped from the storage facilities but they arrive within a few days. Last month they shipped PT, sensodyne toothpaste, olive oil and vegetable oil. Bottles of blue dawn dish soap in the 2-1/2 qt bottles were not available in store but they had 1 gal containers, so I got the gal ones (which were cheaper than equivalent qt sizes) and will transfer the product to used 2 qt bottles.

Aldi in the city had 90/10% hamburger and it went down a $1/pd from last time I bought. The lower fat ratio makes it easier to can. Our small town grocers don’t carry the 90/10% but I buy most all other meat/poultry/pork locally; prices are just a tiny bit higher than in March.

Lowes had all the building supplies I needed but prices are much higher. Pressure treat wood was available but very pricey. Screws have doubled in price and metal roofing panels have gone up significantly, but at least I got what I wanted.

Everything I purchase is storeable; if I don’t use it right away, it won’t go bad for years.

Glad to hear folks stocking up, BUT… for every freezer bought… WHAT happens when elect grid goes down or your area has a power failure? If you have no Generator…. Received my onan yesterday. Have enough Generators to supply both water wells and both Houses on property. Have two 250 gallon propane tanks, plus gasoline. Can survive the short haul…. Get a Generator that is dual fuel.

OK. Got it. Cyalume snaplights. The other color. None. No stock.

Also gardening supplies such as lightweight insect resistant row covers, bagged compost, seeds, garden fencing and posts and most garden amendments, insect control(organic) items etc are either unavailable or sparse. Add to that axes, mauls etc. I wasn’t looking for this but I’ve heard any chicken items such as waterers, feeders etc aren’t easily found now. Stores are telling me that they just can’t get these items in; the suppliers are totally backlogged. A local bagged compost supplier was 75 truckloads behind as of a few weeks ago when I was looking. Agway tells me they actually ran out of seed potatoes this year.

I’m trying to figure out what might be in short supply that I need in the near future. It seems to be a combo of what suppliers are having a hard time finding due to manufacturing slowdowns, stuff not coming from overseas etc as well as sharply increased demand. I’m guessing stuff used in the winter for sports, boots, hats and gloves, anything people hanging out at home a lot indoors will do for recreation. Also home office type supplies; had a hard time replacing my headset that broke as most were out of stock other than really pricey ones. Wondering about snow tires; I really need new ones. Although if I don’t have a job this winter to go to I probably won’t be driving a whole lot and can just use my old ones!

I’m guessing that if you want to grow garlic(or have some for the winter) and don’t already grow it, you’ll want to jump on some as soon as it’s for sale. Also, be sure to save enough potatoes for using as seed stock(unless you’ve got diseased spuds of course). I’m also guessing that people in areas where there’s lots of wild apple trees will be taking a real interest in harvesting them this year so if you plan on doing that you might want to keep an eye on the trees and get any permission needed from land owners early rather than later. Plus make sure you’ve got a picker tool to harvest if you’re not just using drops. In past years I’d always see apples all over the ground that were just ignored and even black walnuts on the ground under a (for here) rare black walnut tree. I suspect there will be a lot of interest in harvesting and canning/storing this sort of stuff this year. And in places where you have other types of fruit and nuts trees, the same goes. With canned fruit selling for upwards of $2.50/can around here I’d imagine a lot of people will want to make apple sauce etc.

There has been no yeast since mid-February. Things are mostly well stocked again, but sometimes sporadic shortages. TP and PT are well stocked. The prices of both had gone way up, but are coming back down. Kleenex tissues seem to be in short supply. Went to the Lowe’s this week, very low inventory of everything. Cannot buy tomato cages anywhere. Can find five gallon buckets only at TSC, nowhere else. Having trouble finding clothes for my growing teenage boy. I did pre-buy clothing in bigger sizes for him, but I’m now trying to prepare for the next growth spurt. Shoes are another thing we’re having trouble finding. Something l have noticed is that in all outdoor/gardening centers, there are gallons of Round Up everywhere. I won’t comment on what I think of that.

Went to my local mom & pop grocery here in the Missouri Ozarks yesterday. Some canned goods were light on the shelves, but everything they carry was in stock. Plenty of rice, flour, canned meats. they have a limit of 3 on some processed meats (brats, bacon, lunch meat).

PS and off topic. I’ve been lurking here for years. Not a fan of social media (which I consider comments to be). You all are a great bunch, handle your issues, and provide awesome insight.

Thanks to all who hang out here.

I went shopping yesterday. Lots of sales, but the sale prices are the regular prices of a year ago. Shelves are faced with a few of each item, but empty behind with more stock on the top shelves. A lot of empty lower shelves and empty upper shelves, with everything at eye level or below. Different things are missing each time I go in. Lots of displays covering empty shelves.

Produce is available but lower quality and higher prices. I didn’t even look at the meat, but prices were up across the board.

Central Texas report:
small independent gun store: only 20 handguns in cases; other independents have closed!

Bass Pro Shop: gun cases 1/3 full, limited ammo. clerk suggested ordering online (really??)

HEB grocery store: some hydrogen peroxide, no isopropyl alcohol, limit of 1 on TP & paper towels, limit of 4 on hand sanitizer, some beef but expensive, shelves of veg & fruit only 1/2 full w/ noticeable empty spaces (peas, corn, potatoes), limited canned tomatoes & sauces, pasta 1/2 empty. Bought 5 pound bag of frozen mixed veg to dehydrate & it only filled a few pint jars when finished. Hubby “never knew” that would happen so I reiterated how valuable our canned freeze dried supplies really are. To his credit, he has really been a help since his retirement, now that he is not preoccupied w/ his career.

Harbor Freight: has disposable gloves & paper masks (made in China) but store looked woefully empty in their regular stock, all presumably Chinese imports.

Purchased a window air conditioner from Wally World, just in case our whole house a.c. goes out. It reached 106 here last Monday.

Costco: shopped senior hours @ 9 am, when crowd is small. They had Lysol spray, 4 shrink wrapped cans for $16.99, limit 1. Got it for sister-in-law who is still working & can’t get to stores during daylight hours. Not much on the overhead shelves, only floor displays used. Scared me a little. The butcher I usually visit with looked kind of wild-eyed & was short w/ me. Something wrong there, I am sure. Over the counter drugs were short but plenty of vitamins, oddly enough. Felt a little weirded out when we left as things really seem to be collapsing.

Keep prayin’ & preppin’!

P.S. Thx Ken! I have been scouring the internet for news just like this. It is exceptionally timely, valuable & you are greatly appreciated by all!

Ammo, can peaches, sugar, yeast, and common sense all seem in very short supply.

Time will tell how it all works out.

And that’s the view from my part of the world.

This information was so helpful. Thank you!!

I don’t get to town often, but I was there yesterday waiting on our medium sized chest freezer to be delivered. I ordered it from a restaurant supply company and paid more than I would have in normal times.
Most things are in stock in central AZ with the exception of yeast and disinfectant wipes. Since baby wipes are available I’ve made my own “chlorox wipes” by pouring a mild bleach solution into a half full reclosable wipe pack (it’s labeled so it won’t be used for personal hygiene). I picked up canning lids, 2 cases of jelly jars, and pectin in anticipation of making prickly pear jelly in September. Looking to order rennet and “Clear Jel” soon.
I’m trying to think of all the things I’ll need/want for this fall and winter and I’m getting them now….including gifts for Christmas and birthdays. My daughter purchased all the traditional Thanksgiving meal ingredients and I’m looking through all our favorite family recipes to check for ingredients that might be harder to find.

What’s not out there right now is me. Stocked up nicely months ago so only zip in and out for fresh milk, etc. Haven’t “shopped”and filled a cart in a couple of months.

Coin shortage; had a little problem at the cash register today as it came to $__.11 and I did not have the change and neither did they. Took it out of the penny jar.

In my small town, ammo is in short supply. The grocery store doesn’t stock as many brands as it used to. They haven’t had Lysol or Clorox Wipes since March. Local honey is gone, but that may be seasonal. Supplies seem to have improved since Covid 19 began to cause quarantines.

Just got cart shamed at walmart. Had cart loaded up and a typical person of walmart type made a comment and pointed at my cart to the person they were with (oh well they can go ……… Themselves )
Vegetables are at about 40% normal ( no French style green beans ) some new brands I’ve never seen before
No bikes. Very little fishing/camping stuff. Cereal aisle about 60 % normal. Pop was about 60 % normal on caffeinated types. (No caffeine free). Maybe 10 % of the ready to assemble furniture First aid stuff at about 50 % normal vitamins and pain meds pretty wiped out ( was a fair amount of ibuprofen ) sheets and towels were at about 25 % normal as was socks and underwear Cleaning supplies at about 20 % normal. Toilet paper and paper towels were pretty low

Just wait till the people get all worked up by the media about the second wave. Think how empty the shelves will be. I think the stores will be completely empty

Just got back from Wally’s. No heavy shopping, mainly went to pick up prescription meds for family. Saw no empty shelves, but few that were fully stocked. Had everything I had on the short list the wife sent with me.

Ammo shelves were almost bare. Only .22 rimfire they had was CCI Stingers. A good load, but pricey at $6.47 for a box of 50 rounds (but that’s the normal price). I do like to keep it (the hyper-velocity Stingers) in stock, they let me buy two boxes of the four they had. I’m not hurting for ammo by a long shot, but still add to my stores when I can.

Arkansas governor issued a mask mandate for everyone out in public. His mandate came less than a day after Wally World issued their nation-wide mandate for their stores. Both go into effect Monday.

So far been able to get supplies we need. Have noticed low quantities in a few canned goods areas. Meat prices and produce prices have gone up. I did notice while picking up hubby’s meds, the pharmacy was out of quite a bit of over the counter items. Tylenol, antacids, allergy meds,etc. Limits on hand soap, sanitizer, wipes, etc still in place.

– Had occasion to waltz through Sam’s, Walmart, local grocery chain and local farm store this morning. Other than Ammo, which bordered on nonexistent, I noticed some thin spots in canned soups, convenience packages of pasta (Plenty of Chef Boyardee canned stuff, though), meats were pretty well in stock. Made it a point to check and most canned goods went all the way back, not just facings. DW commented that lunch meat was either poultry or ham, nothing else. Plenty of fresh stuff available in produce department. Hand Sanitizer and masks available, plenty of bar soap but pump soap kinda thin. Plenty of laundry detergent, nothing labeled Lysol, small packages of nitrile gloves. Grand was able to find facial scrub she was looking for. Plenty of #10 cans, canned peaches, and such.
Also made it a point to check on camping/cooking gear. Coleman Classic two-burner propane stoves on sale and plenty of them at $43.75. Plenty as far as normal supply of cook pots in camping and housewares at Wally World.
– Papa S.

Hi All.
I’ve been keeping up with this Article and have yet to comment.
I beveive most here know me well enough to know ……..
Visited the local Sam’s Club yesterday. What surprised me the most was not the fact that the store was at around 60% of normal stock, but the number of people there…
The place was completely PACKED, and yes everyone was doing the BS mask thing, even me.
But what was amazing that every cart was 110% filled, some families had twp and a few had 3 carts…..
Read that was you wish…

The particular thing I would bring up besides Ammo on another Article, is Canning Jars and supplies.
Sam’s dosen’t carry them but I stopped at 3 other stores that do…. 25% at most, and 50% more cost.
Check out Amazon, 50% higher cost and a lot are down to 3-5 left in stock…..

Have a Garden?
Planing on a new freezer?
Planing on Canning?
How you going to store that food?

Just my 2cents worth.

PS: Blue is sooooo mad, Sam’s Club was 100% OUT of canned food… Except for Cat Food… Blue declined.

I know some don’t like to mention area’s they live but it really helps knowing the area’s where shortages are otherwise just stating these shortages is kinda meaningless.

So please say north/central/south of such state, it helps.
be vague
I’m in central WI

One of my coworkers sent a message to me last night. The local Costco shelves are nearly empty. Very few shoppers either.

I went to Costco yesterday and the shelves were fairly well stocked. I’m in west Texas.

I just relocated to Wisconsin and I went to IKEA for furniture…a LOT of the shelves are empty and “next day delivery” is now middle-of-August :(

Southwest NH Market Basket this morning had no discernable holes, except for Fudgesicles…what is summer without Fudgesicles? Oh well, I doubled up on Popsicles…

Independent appliance store has 40+ appliances on back order and is having trouble getting parts. Some lumber is getting harder and slower to get. Canadian border shutdown perhaps is the lumber issue?

Went last night to a large grocery store (inland central CA) I do not usually frequent in a town near BOL. They are part of a west coast store chain.

They don’t have a butcher onsite, they had pre-packaged meats (okay selection of mostly chicken and pork), but high prices. Didn’t bother buying any. Very, very low on eggs, bacon, lunch meat.

No pt, and only store brand tp, limit one. Only other limited item was 12-packs of ramen.

Maybe 20 bottles of dish soap, all one brand. Low on most cleaning products. Variety of canned goods, but no more than 2 deep on anything. Very low on flour, sugar and rice. But good supply of dried spices in larger plastic containers – nice surprise, stocked up and will vac seal in jars.

Almost completely wiped out on beer and sodas. I wasn’t looking to buy any, but I asked and an employee said deliveries have been really light on all canned beverages, mentioned aluminum can shortage.

Higher prices on everything, spending more to buy less.

Meanwhile there is an abundance of certain items due to people cleaning out their closets, attics and garages. Take a look at Craigslist, around here several with racks and racks of clothing especially.

Went to wm today,
noticed lots of odd replacement items., many missing products.
the ground chuck is back at a lower price finally.
otc pain section had many missing items.

random food items around the store, gone

A friend over in the valley is having a hard time finding a replacement for a washing machine. It quit and her repair guy said not fixing or fixable anymore. She is getting delivery times in October.

Mid Michigan here, I did manage to find one can of Lysol (commercial sized can)at my local hardware in town but none anywhere else. My Meijers has TP, paper towel AND Kleenex but still limiting the amounts.Lots of hand sanitizers but no wipes and big jugs of antibacterial soap.I have one of those Lysol auto dispensers and found a hack to refill the soap bottles myself as Lysol doesn’t make the units or replacement soap bottles anymore. Canned veggies and fruit on the shelves but it’s hit or miss from week to week as to the amounts and varieties. Dry beans, rice REALLY scarce. Meat in the store is pricey but the shelves have product. They even have the butcher counter open now. Canning jars are not in good supply but I get rings and lids when I go to the store. Prices on everything is getting ridiculous. For example,the store brand jar of peanuts are up to almost $4.00 whereas they were only $1.89 a(16 oz) jar last month. I wonder if people are making their own peanut butter LOL? The jar yeast is not available but the strip packages are limited to one per. So I pick up a packet when I go, vac pac it and in the freezer it goes. No disposable gloves as of yesterday, talked to one of Son’s old coworkers, she told me that the deliveries of that stuff is sporadic and tends to go fast. Have to go Tuesday to pick up scripts so I’ll check then.

Canning lids, 4 dozen, just went from $12 to $30!

5 Gallon buckets and Lids. Very few of those around anywhere…

Came down off the mountain this morning for my quarterly blood draw. Listening to the local radio station’s daily “Trading Post” program where folks call in items they want to buy, trade, or sell. It was a non-stop repeat of what folks here on MSB have reported. Folks looking to buy guns, ammo, canning jars and lids, freezers, gardening tools, etc.

Topic of conversation in the clinic waiting room was the dire shape our country is headed. Man sitting next to me started talking of a conversation he had with his friend Ted Nugent. Another gentleman questioned him if he really was friends with Ted. Turns out the guy, who appeared older than me, owns Snake Skin Camo that Ted wears.

NO YOU ARE

Do you brew wine? Yeast is out of stock.

Went to Smart Foods and Winco yesterday in a nearby large population city to top off stuff.
Smart foods is the old cash & carry store. They were low on beans and flour and I noticed space in the shelves and stock was fronted on the shelves.Store traffic was normal and prices have been raised a little in most areas.Over all selections seemed to be lower.
Winco is our store of choice and they were busy as usual.Inventories were a little sparse but still a fair selection of products.Good selection in the meat department.They did have 25# and 50# bags of bulk items, pet food,oats,beans,rice, etc.

Been a couple weeks since I loaded up on the groceries so couldn’t comment until now. From the central coast but slightly inland of CA, here’s what I noticed today:

Went to two stores total and both were well stocked. One was very busy, the other wasn’t very. Paper towel items were completely gone but the husk paper was quite stocked. Beef prices are very high and well stocked, (coincidence?) but the chicken was only about 20% stocked, (as it was on sale). There were no signs limiting quantity.

Additionally, been waiting to see if I could call it a trend before commenting but today, for the third time in two weeks, cash is appearing limited in the ATM’s at the bank. Two weeks ago, two of the three ATM’s were completely out, and the other only had limited denominations, (no 100’s). Was able to go inside for what I needed then. Today, no 100’s again, just 10-20’s offered. Anyone else seeing this?

From SW Wisconsin – Today I had errands at both the local hardware store and Walmart. I didn’t notice anything unusual at the hardware store; glanced over the ammo section, and everything they usually carry was there.

Walmart was a begrudging necessary stop today, as they’re the only game in town for a few particular essentials. There were definitely bare spots on the shelves for certain brands of food products, but plenty of other brands available for the same food item. Some food items were low – the usual suspects, like pasta, tomato sauce, flour – but they had them in stock. There was an Auguson Farms bucket in the bulk section, so I bought it. There seems to be one each time I’m there, almost like they just put out one at a time. Didn’t scope out everything, as the mandatory mask is uncomfortable and I want to get in and out as quickly as possible.

Two young men were outside the entrance, counting people and making sure everyone had their muzzles, I mean, masks on. Yes, I wore the mask; I rebelled at following the arrows, however. My small act of independence was going the opposite way. Noticed I wasn’t the only one doing that. Made me feel a little better.

So shopped today. Smart Foodsavers restaurant supply well stocked. Missing yeast. Not a speck on the two shelves dedicated to yeast.

Costco one each limits on TP, Kirkland fabric softener sheets, and Dawn dish soap. No quart-sized freezer bags and no instant mashed potatoes. Well stocked otherwise throughout. SW WA

But no peaches at Costco.

I’ll be doing the main shopping tomorrow but for now the shelf was bare at WM about 1 1/2 weeks ago for any type of allergy meds. A few scattered boxes of the brand name stuff was all.
Cheap printers. My printer decided it can only suck in paper sideways and wad it up. All cheap printers are out of stock wherever I looked online.
I like Mercola vitamins and they have been out of stock for several weeks that I know of.

WM – Central Oregon – Monday about 10:30am

allergy products looked full – didn’t check if it was just faced or actually full.
Most of the cold case wall at about 40% filled with large empty sections. Only bologna was filled with almost zilch other lunch meats, hot dogs etc
Baking section low with lots of outs. So, maybe 40%? No yeast
Cooking oil at about 25%
Canned veggies maybe 50%.
Canned meats- 0
Lot of Jimmy Dean sausage but entire shelf above and around it empty
Butter-low
TP- lot of outs- maybe 50%
Frozen food- lots of large empty sections
Overall several sections throughout store empty with filled with odd ‘place holders’
Had an employee show me where the tapioca was and he pointed me down the isle. None. I mentioned it in passing back by him and he said “yeah, there are a lot of outs”.

From Central Texas:

Had cabin fever so we took a drive to a smallish town north of our metro/suburban area.
Many more empty storefronts than on our last drive there in late May, early June.

Stopped in to see an acquaintance who owns his own gun store. Donnie wasn’t there but his adult son/business partner was there & was happy to visit while 2 other customers also browsed. They had 8 handguns & 8 long guns in their cases; he is ordering new toys for us….but doesn’t know when/if they will come in. They have expanded & now carry lots of fishing equipment, which is a good seller for them & keeps them in business for now.

I will grocery shop tomorrow & make a report. Has anyone ever ordered from Nuts.com? They have a lot on their website & I plan to order tomorrow, too.

Keep preppin’ & prayin’!

No. Ca. Here, (not to far from the evil den of Nancy’s nephew as gov) things I noticed in short stock is vitamins. No turmeric, c or d3 & zinc. What used to be at least 3’ X 4 shelves is now 2’ X 2 shelves. Soups down by 75%, no corned beef, canned tamales, canned meats very sparse. Canned veggies & fruit sparse. Found yeast though. Funny thing happened this wkend, da. Visiting, mentioned months since she could find disinfecting wipes, walked out to “the store”, handed her 99.9% wipes for viruses/bacteria, she grabbed them from my hand yelling this is GOLD Mom, I was shocked, asked her -need any Isopropyl Alcohol, got 91%, again this is GOLD! Where did you get this stuff? Well geeze daughter, you know I prep, maybe now you’ll pay attention to your Mother! She knows this but it hasn’t sunk in yet the value of prepping. Go figure, I am told stop buying stuff, huh! Really? Signing off – GrGrandma

I went to Sam’s Club yesterday in South Alabama. It’s the first time that I have been in there since March. I was shocked by the reduced volume of items. Normally pallets are full of goods with extra stock overhead. Not yesterday. No pasta sauces. Pasta volume was less than half of normal. No butter–checked Sam’s online and there is none in stock for over 150 mile radius. No shredded mozzarella cheese. They did have yeast, which was a surprise. Breakfast foods aisle (cereals, granola bars, etc) was reduced to half normal size. Lots of empty shelf space in the freezer section, refrigerator section, and all throughout the shelf stable foods.

Central Texas report

Did my weekly grocery run today & was amazed @ many full shelves @ my local HEB! Full of eggs, butter, cheeses, yeast, flour & baking mixes, rice, fresh fruit & veg, meats, toilet paper, vitamins & cold remedies.

However, there were a few gaps: 1/3 empty pasta shelves, 1/2 empty canned soups & canned fruits & veg & almost no cleaning supplies. Frozen foods still somewhat limited. There was NO isopropyl alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. And limits of 2 on paper products & a few other things.

Keep preppin’ & prayin’!

North Central Texas also had full shelves yesterday at the 4 WalMart superstores and their 1 neighborhood store in my seven mile radius. Seeing empty shelves, or only fronted cans that have nothing behind them has become so normal that to see overflowing shelves stops you in your tracks. Oddly, I went to all 5 stores in search of Ozarka water – yet not one bottle of that existed anywhere – which in Tx is apocalyptic during 108 degree weather. I asked the cashier what was going on, since there was no water yet canned food was suddenly in overabundance for the first time since Easter. He said sheepishly that all the employee’s had started really stocking up and had depleted a lot of items before the store ever opened. As was the case with Ozarka, but those trucks would be around to restock as soon as “they could get in”. Backlog of trucks at the dock because of the amount of other supplies being brought all at once. Evidently their manager had told them that WalMart was sending everything they could send because they knew people needed to get it now and advised them to buy as much as they could afford. As I walked away he called out to me and I took a few steps back, thinking I forgot something. Instead, he said, “Ma’am, may God watch over you and bless you.” Brought tears to my eyes because I think those poor folks are stressed beyond belief after months of this craziness. At another store as I was weaving through the stockers I heard one say, “Could you hear us screaming and cheering from our meeting?” Their manager had just assembled them to say that they won’t have to work on Thanksgiving Day this year because there won’t be a Black Friday event, due to not having enough stock forecasted to have big sales. Instead they will have some small sales throughout the preceding week and then close so the employees can be with their families for the day. And that they would also be getting raises in December because the management realized how hard they’d all been working. It was surreal to overhear all of this, yet it was equally jarring to see cart after cart filled with cases of items that have been so scarce. Not things like isopropyl alcohol, or Charmin, or Clorox – but choices of bar soaps and soup that hasn’t existed and a variety of pet food versus one choice, or just a couple choices, like it has been. Felt like that very first time you walked into WalMart and were mesmerized by all of what they had on the shelves. LOL…remember when it was a fun adventure, not a drag that left you exhausted and exasperated? Long damn time ago! But it felt like that again for a day. And that felt strange for some odd reason. One weird note though…all of the cans had a layer of “something” on… Read more »

All canning supplies are gone from Menard’s in Wisconsin. No lids, jars, nothing.

chevy – I’ve found some at Farm and Fleet a few weeks back, if there’s one near you.

Petco- Taste of the Wild, Merrick and Orijen dog food all at about 40% but was told that a truck was due in.
Whole Paycheck 365 mayo – no stock

Freezer shortages are replacing toilet paper shortages, according to the clerk at a local appliance store.

Everything I own is breaking down, it seems. A few months ago, my television quit. Since then I have lost my microwave, computer, and stove. Today I went to Worland with a friend to buy a new stove. She was looking to buy a bigger freezer since she has greatly expanded her garden this year — expecting a famine. They had rows and rows of stoves, dishwashers, clothes washers & dryers, microwaves, etc., but only one freezer is stock and it was not the size she was looking for.

The clerk said the shortage is due to factories closing down due to the China virus, but I think it may also be because preppers are buying more freezers.

Our grocery store had a sale on ground beef this week: $1.98 a pound, limit of four. I went to get my limit about 8:00 yesterday morning, and was pleased to see that there were about twelve rolls there. I was shocked that there was not another thing in the entire beef cabinet/refrigerated area. It’s got to be at least ten feet long, and the shelves were completely empty. There was plenty of other meat in the other areas; I got twenty pounds of pork loin for $1.58 a pound. (The ground beef is now canned, and I’m watching the canner right now with the last of the pork.) I’m interested in seeing if this beef shortage was just a one-day thing. The ground beef sale lasts another two days, so I’ll go back and check it out.

I’m in PA and we seem to be having a Dawn dish detergent shortage. A couple weeks ago there was none to be found at our local grocery store. Is anyone else seeing this? I’m not sure if it’s because of all the spotted lantern flies and stinkbugs, or something else. One of my friends said people are using it as laundry detergent, even though I haven’t noticed any shortages on that.

Our meat prices were skyrocketing but seem to be coming back down now. Also no freezers to be found around here. My husband keeps telling me ours is full, but his full is not the same as mine 😁 It’s all about the organization!

Just a heads up you all ,,, There is discussion at upper management of the food store chain I’m involved with of closing stores to balance available stock. So to keep stores fully stocked that are open ,

Article this morning about the items the Police are discovering Antifa has in their possession at time of arrest. Typically 4 spare mags of ammo per person and also Molotov cocktails in Mason jars. Made me wonder if perhaps they play a larger role in each of those shortages, rather than the shortages merely being indicative of individuals buying for personal home use.

Cream of Mushroom Soup. Price went up about 40 cents a can a few weeks ago. Now I can’t find it anywhere. Some other soups are missing from the shelves, too.

Thank you NH Michael for the cream of whatever soup mix recipe. Went to WinCo this morning and cream of mushroom soup was 1.79 !! About fell in the floor! Same can at Kroger was 1.29.
Also in the pharmacy for hubby’s Rx. Lisinopril is on back order and no idea when it will be in. He is on super low dose and we have a couple of months worth but ,heads up Buttercups!! This could be just the beginning of medication shortages.
On a much better note. Get to see my new grand girl in the morning!! They will be home tonight. Amazing! When I had my kids ya stayed for at least 3 days and a C-Section was a week. I told her to stay in another day and get a little more rest cause she is coming home to 2 other kiddos. Oh well.
Gonna smell that sweet baby head!!
PEACE
MadFab

Oldhomesteader,
Thanks

Arrived back in suburbia today, went to a large Albertsons (Vons/Safeway brand) to do a major grocery shop.

Only limit sign was cleaning products (1 per) including antibacterial products… those were wiped out.

Several brands of tp, but very little pt. Usual low stock on the staples such as rice, ramen, flour, etc…

They must have restocked canned goods just before I got there. Shelves looked mostly full and suspiciously neat, but most products 1 deep, a few 2 deep.

I noticed something, though. When I buy canned fruit it Usually has an expiration of 12-15 months… today’s cans were a full 2 years out. Soups that are usually 15-18 months out were a full 2 years. Canned chili that if I’m lucky is a full 2 years to best-buy dates – today they were a whopping 3 full years out. I have never bought canned chili with 3 full years to its best by date.

So, am I right to assume these are the products that some folks here said we would be seeing? That is, instead of going to a warehouse shelf they are now in stores ahead of schedule? Are there so few because they are now JIT inventory, with little on the retail shelf and even less sitting in distribution center to replenish retail stock?

Has anyone else noticed this?Gotta wonder how much longer these items will be available.

I’ve noticed that canned goods at my local supermarket are not stocked as much as they were a year ago. Canned tomatoes seemed sparse on the shelves. I got a box of pasta on sale; the expiration date was 2023.

I want to share a conversation I had with a grocery store employee this morning.

I needed a few things I did not find in my major grocery shopping trip over the weekend. So, I went to a different store… it is part of a CA chain of about 170 stores. The person I spoke with is a lead in the front of the store.

I asked his opinion about the longer “best by” dates we are seeing. I asked him if it was because products are moving faster through the system. He confirmed exactly what Oldhomesteader said in his reply to me on this topic the other day.

This employee told me that they have “massive warehouses” in their distribution system, and that they have been “GUTTED”. Products coming in from the manufacturers are immediately going out to store shelves, NOTHING is sitting in the warehouses or distribution centers.

I asked him what happens if/when we get a second wave or some other problem. He said “We’ll see lines to the back of the store again, and we won’t have much of anything to bring in from distribution this time – it will be like what happened with toilet paper… but with (waves hand across all the store aisles).”

I know that all of the regulars here already know this, but it bears repeating for those who have been on the fence, or may be new here, or are thinking that things are returning to “normal”. Things are not “normal” in the grocery distribution system – and that’s straight from the mouth of a person in a large metropolis grocery chain. I was actually surprised he was so honest with me. Maybe my question caught him by surprise.

So, non-perishables are going full-speed from manufacturing to store shelves – that’s why the expiration dates are unusually long. We depleted the food in the system with the first wave of the virus and manufacturing is not ramped up enough to replenish the system… it is barely (and in many cases not even) keeping up with current demand.

If/when the next wave of the plan-demic hits (or if anything else goes wrong with civil unrest and the elections, let’s say), what’s left on the shelves will be cleaned out with no back-up to replenish. Even with a mask on his face, I could see how serious his face was. So, I urge anyone who is not already doing so to get moving while you can.

TX Deb –
You might tell him to swing by Lowe’s too and do a walk-thru. They’re also having a tough time with stock. Sandpaper gone. Not a sheet to be found. Any power tool that he may need a replacement/back-up for is worth a look because we ran into some problems with that as well. Display items, yet only one true item to buy out of nine or so models. Certain light bulbs are getting iffy too. A lot of the lumbar is down to warped pieces and plumbing repair items are thinner than normal.

So him going out with a list of what he’d like to have on hand to feel comfortable is smart too. Even if he won’t need it, someone else you know may or it can be bartered.