Coronavirus Fears and Empty Supermarkets

[Brian Lutz]

I've also seen a few stores selling hand sanitizers made by US distilleries; Not a big fan of these because they make your hands smell like whiskey.

[BillyGr]

I've also seen a few stores selling hand sanitizers made by US distilleries; Not a big fan of these because they make your hands smell like whiskey.

I guess it depends on what the base product is - locally here it's an apple orchard that makes vodka from the apples, so it (from reports) has an apple scent.

[storewanderer]

Went to Safeway tonight. They have made some changes to the cleaning supply set. They took 5-10 feet of full top to bottom shelving in the cleaning aisle and spread out weird brands of hand soap, hand sanitizer, and cleaning wipes (not antibacterial ones) on that space. Most just shallow stocked like 3 items per row. So they essentially tore up what was 50% of their cleaning set and took down all the tags and put this weird stuff there. The remaining 50% of the space that still has cleaning supplies set (tags) was about 15% stocked at best.

There was also a new hand sanitizer tonight I had not seen before, the WATSON brand (product of China). I thought maybe this was a private label of the Watson's Drug Store chain in Asia, but it was WATSON not WATSON'S. The package format looked very similar to the WATSON'S brand one on their website, except for the name being different.

Too bad these supply chains can't figure out how to get cleaning products restocked... it is like this in every store.

[pseudo3d]

The local H-E-B stores keep hand sanitizer in stock, but it's always a weird, rotating selection of brands no one has heard of before. Purell made a very brief appearance and Germ-X seems to be a bit more common. It's always the same three, hand sanitizers, paper products (still lighter stocks and alternate brands like the Mexican brands), and cleaning products. Even bleach seems to be hit and miss (Clorox is not always available).

Otherwise, with the exception of bulk bins, self-serve bakery items, and a few others, things have pretty much returned to normal stock-wise.

[TW-Upstate NY]

Purell made a very brief appearance and Germ-X seems to be a bit more common.

Only place I've found Purell around here is Target on at least two occasions and did manage to get an 8-oz. bottle of it a few weeks ago. They have consistently had the 2-oz. bottles in stock but 8-oz. is hit or miss. They have a limit of one of any brand or size so I really don't even bother with the 2-oz.-what's the point if they have larger sizes of other brands. I've had a similar experience as you with Germ-X. Wal-Mart has occasionally had 8-oz. bottles and this week in Target I found it available in quart bottles and it seemed to be in decent quantity as they had it in its normal shelf space and on an end cap. It's the second time I've seen that size there in about the last month. And to carry it a bit further, I even was fortunate enough to find a multi-pack (three cannisters) of 75 count Clorox wipes last week. As much as I dislike getting up early these days, guess that's when it pays to shop.

[SamSpade]

Off Topic

A new "trusted" brand I've seen at Walmart is Suave (Unilever doesn't seem like a company that would mess around), which I'm realizing now does not list country of origin.
They had 2 ounce portable and 8? ounce larger bottles. The large bottles finally did not smell like the strange odor that hand sanitizers have given off since returning to the shelves.

Here, the stores also had several 'off brand' products available. I have seen some local distillery products also in a local Albertsons, but those are very fluid/messy and at a premium price point.

It seems like we've trailed off a bit from "coronavirus fears and empty supermarkets" but I was hoping that by providing this, others around the country that read the forum may know where to find a product they need.

[TW-Upstate NY]

Seen Suave brand sanitizer in Target as well and even bought a couple bottles but haven't used any yet. No 2 oz. bottles of it around here but one of the local chain markets has it in 8-oz. aerosol spray bottles.

[storewanderer]

Off Topic

A new "trusted" brand I've seen at Walmart is Suave (Unilever doesn't seem like a company that would mess around), which I'm realizing now does not list country of origin.
They had 2 ounce portable and 8? ounce larger bottles. The large bottles finally did not smell like the strange odor that hand sanitizers have given off since returning to the shelves.

Here, the stores also had several 'off brand' products available. I have seen some local distillery products also in a local Albertsons, but those are very fluid/messy and at a premium price point.

It seems like we've trailed off a bit from "coronavirus fears and empty supermarkets" but I was hoping that by providing this, others around the country that read the forum may know where to find a product they need.

I think country or origin is a relevant topic right now as we are seeing different sourcing on products due to the supply chain issues. With that said I believe the Suave is made in USA.

Also Safeguard liquid hand soap in the shelf is making a come back. That product was largely gone, though still distributed for commercial use/soap dispensers in public bathrooms.

If a product does not list country of origin, can you safely assume it is Made in USA?

I was looking at some Honey tonight - no country of origin on it, but it said US Grade A. Does that mean it is product of USA?

[TW-Upstate NY]

I think country or origin is a relevant topic right now as we are seeing different sourcing on products due to the supply chain issues. With that said I believe the Suave is made in USA.

And not to mention a lot of that foreign made off brand stuff has been subject to recall. The FDA list seems to keep growing of various foreign manufacturers or off shoot brands.

[TW-Upstate NY]

Also Safeguard liquid hand soap in the shelf is making a come back. That product was largely gone, though still distributed for commercial use/soap dispensers in public bathrooms.

Speaking of Safeguard, they too are offering branded hand sanitizer. I've seen it locally at Market 32 but only in 2-oz. bottles. Oh, and I've bought some of their liquid soap but haven't tried it yet. The reviews I've read of it sound pretty good.