Retail Watchers

There seems to be a strange retail slowdown. I am in California, but I do not know if it is affecting other areas as well.

Supermarkets and other retail stores are more empty than ever now. People are staying at home. This is especially noticeable after dark. I was at a supermarket and it was empty of customers. It is the same story at all the nearby supermarkets. Even Walmart is eerily empty. I have friends who work at Walmart and they say people keep asking for facial masks. Supermarkets, pharmacies, and discount stores are totally out of masks of any kind.

Perhaps, it is just a California thing, but there seems to be a fear of coronavirus that is keeping everyone at home as much as possible.

I haven't noticed that in Central Phoenix. Fry's in downtown Phoenix was hopping the other day as was Safeway. In fact, the Mekong Korean Supermarket in Mesa was packed when I was there on Sunday. People here tend to be a bit less reactionary than in California.

I work with a lot of Asian-AQmericans and near a lot of businesses that cater to Asians, and really everything is status quo. people here generally don't go back to China for the Lunar New year, so that may be part of it.

Alpha8472 wrote: ↑January 29th, 2020, 12:28 am There seems to be a strange retail slowdown. I am in California, but I do not know if it is affecting other areas as well.

Supermarkets and other retail stores are more empty than ever now. People are staying at home. This is especially noticeable after dark. I was at a supermarket and it was empty of customers. It is the same story at all the nearby supermarkets. Even Walmart is eerily empty. I have friends who work at Walmart and they say people keep asking for facial masks. Supermarkets, pharmacies, and discount stores are totally out of masks of any kind.

Perhaps, it is just a California thing, but there seems to be a fear of coronavirus that is keeping everyone at home as much as possible.

Just a guess but perhaps since California has the highest concentration of Asian folks in the USA?

Also one might think that with the location of California in the US, it would get more flights coming from Asian locations than other areas of the country, so people may be more concerned due to that.

I haven't seen any evidence of this at all, and I work in an Asian neighborhood.

I've seen more face masks. That's about the only difference.

I haven't noticed any of this in Nevada. I wonder how it will impact the casinos. Maybe it will help us, Macau is practically dormant at this point.

There definitely has been a retail slowdown in the San Francisco Bay Area at night when it is dark and cold. People are staying at home indoors to avoid catching a cold, the flu, or some similar illness. The fitness clubs are much emptier than before. Many people want to avoid the gym. The San Francisco Bay Area has a large number of crowded buses, train, and public transportation systems. There are 2 coronavirus victims in San Francisco and they passed through the airport and exposed thousands. In addition, they must have gone to the supermarket and exposed many people along the way. They are currently quarantined at a hospital in San Francisco.

There are many airplane flights that have come in from China and Asia to several Bay Area airports. Often you see busloads of Chinese tourists stopping at supermarkets or discount stores before going to the casinos here in California or Nevada. This is a booming business and there are many Chinese tour companies in this area.

Chinese and Asian supermarkets such as 99 Ranch are much less crowded. In fact, Chinese restaurants are empty most of the time. Fear is everywhere here.

The first coronavirus infection of unknown origin in the United States has occurred in Solano County, California. This means that the virus is out there among non-quarantined people in the United States. It is on the loose. This means there are carriers of the virus roaming around. You can catch it without even traveling to China.

I have noticed fewer people in supermarkets and at discount stores such as Walmart. People are staying at home and not shopping unless they have to. The malls are also noticeably less crowded. Even restaurants are less crowded. People are opting for drive thru rather than sit in restaurants where people can cough all over you.

I have friends who work for Walmart and they say sales have fallen drastically. People are no longer shopping for fun. They only shop for essentials and then flee.

Of course, if people thought about it for a minute, they'd realize they are more likely to be killed in their cars on the way to the store/restaurant etc. (something like 115 people per day throughout the US) than they are to be infected by this virus while in the location they are going to (not sure what the total number is at the moment in just the US, but suspecting it's less than that still), but most people don't think anything of driving to some place.