Coronavirus Fears and Empty Supermarkets

[TW-Upstate NY]

Sanitized hand baskets were also available.

That is something that is NOT happening around here. Carts yes (at least in some stores) but not hand baskets. And that has the potential to cost stores some business. For example, one of the local stores had chicken on sale last week. I'm running low so it was time to stock up. Didn't need a cart and the hand baskets are not cleaned so the balancing act started. Picture if you will trying to carry in your arms a few large family packs of chicken, 2 16.9 oz. bottles of hand sanitizer, a large tub of margarine and a small box of face masks. Then try to get it all to the checkout without dropping it on the floor somewhere along the way. This store also has some of the best HBA prices around and I needed a few items but had too much to carry as it was. I try to limit my time in stores so a second trip back in was out of the question. It's going to have to wait until this week's trip or I have to run a small errand tomorrow and there's a Dollar General in the area so I just might get the stuff there which means the grocer loses those sales. All because they didn't offer clean hand baskets.

[klkla]

Went to a store in Rancho Cordova called KP International Market. It is a probably 85,000 square foot facility about 70% store and 30% food court/soft goods shops. It is pieced together of an old Lucky, old strip mall space, and old Longs.

Entry is interesting. Line up. Then you must take disposable gloves and then you must sanitize the gloves with the provided hand sanitizer. Masks were provided for those with no masks. Glove and mask required to be worn at all times in store. Then you wait and you get to enter the store after the employee decides to let a few people in. While you wait around the gloves/sanitizer you watch as they sanitize carts and bring them around to give as you walk in. Sanitized hand baskets were also available.

Seems like overkill to me.

[BillyGr]

Sanitized hand baskets were also available.

That is something that is NOT happening around here. Carts yes (at least in some stores) but not hand baskets. And that has the potential to cost stores some business.

I'm not sure how one would even know if the small baskets had been cleaned or not - it seems many stores have a deposit spot for them by the checkouts, then occasionally they move that stack over to replace the now mostly empty one by the entry. They could be spraying them at that point, but unless you got one right after that they would dry off and it wouldn't seem obvious they had been treated.

[storewanderer]

Sanitized hand baskets were also available.

That is something that is NOT happening around here. Carts yes (at least in some stores) but not hand baskets. And that has the potential to cost stores some business.

I'm not sure how one would even know if the small baskets had been cleaned or not - it seems many stores have a deposit spot for them by the checkouts, then occasionally they move that stack over to replace the now mostly empty one by the entry. They could be spraying them at that point, but unless you got one right after that they would dry off and it wouldn't seem obvious they had been treated.

You knew because they had a crew of 3 people cleaning carts or baskets and putting them in a "sanitized" area. It was part of what you got to watch them doing as you waited to enter the store. This store was committing a serious amount of labor to the entry/cleaning process.

[BillyGr]

That is something that is NOT happening around here. Carts yes (at least in some stores) but not hand baskets. And that has the potential to cost stores some business.

I'm not sure how one would even know if the small baskets had been cleaned or not - it seems many stores have a deposit spot for them by the checkouts, then occasionally they move that stack over to replace the now mostly empty one by the entry. They could be spraying them at that point, but unless you got one right after that they would dry off and it wouldn't seem obvious they had been treated.

You knew because they had a crew of 3 people cleaning carts or baskets and putting them in a "sanitized" area. It was part of what you got to watch them doing as you waited to enter the store. This store was committing a serious amount of labor to the entry/cleaning process.

OK, I guess that hasn't happened since none of the supermarkets or drugstores here have had any lines to enter (I did see that at Home Depot one day). I remember seeing someone spraying some carts at one location and another had a sign that the people picking them up were cleaning as they returned them to the store but not other than that.

Although most places have had some type of cleaning supply available for customers (either pre-made wipes or a roll of paper towels and spray bottles when those were unavailable), so they could easily enough wipe off a hand basket, just as they would a regular cart (that is, if it is even a concern given the newer announcements that surfaces aren't the issue).

[cjd]

I liked Publix having an employee to wipe carts continuously, it is a nice touch. I am guessing these employees have been directed to this task who otherwise would be bagging groceries and helping people out to their cars, and also bringing back carts from the corrals. But I don't really see this lasting indefinitely. My guess is it's one of those things that will gradually go away in time.

As for qeues lined up going into stores, I haven't experienced that yet. I am not sure if Walmart is still doing this or not since I haven't visited since the virus. I did see it at Ross but I decided not to visit once I saw the long line. A couple weeks later there was no more line, but then it was a Friday evening and rainy out.

Last time I went to Publix I noticed no music playing and few customers (again it was a Friday evening, but rainy).

[CalItalian]

Vons and Albertsons this week in Riverside County, California finally got rid of the one-way aisle arrows that nobody was paying attention to.

[pseudo3d]

I haven't seen the Soviet-style lines outside my local market or major out-of-stocks since the early weeks of COVID-19, but the out of stocks in cleaning supplies are still a major issue. The Clorox brand toilet cleaner (usually all that's there is some sort of "natural" alternative product) has been out for some time, and of course, the masks/limited hours/removal of self-service items tend to still make grocery shopping no fun anymore.

[Alpha8472]

I would think that people are tired of hoarding by now. Toilet paper is back in stock at most places.

Face masks have become so common that many of those mask making companies in China that popped up overnight are going out of business. There are too many mask making companies that cannot get certificates of quality from the government.

Hand sanitizer is in huge supplies at most places. The quality is not as great as what it was like before the pandemic. Many of them smell very harsh.

Chlorox wipes will have a shortage until 2021. I find that Chlorox wipes are too harsh. All you need is 70 percent alcohol and some paper towels.

[TW-Upstate NY]

Toilet paper is back in stock at most places.

Same here but now there seems to be an issue with paper towels but only in supermarkets. Places like Wal-Mart are fully stocked with them. Also, since it was mentioned recently, White Cloud toilet paper is now available in my local area. I've seen it in one of the local markets for a few weeks now. And it's displayed on an end cap no less.