I went to the grocery store and it was very different from Costco

"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori) 04/07/2020 at 16:09 • Filed to: covid-19

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In contrast to Costco they were:

Out of a lot of stuff

Had limits on a lot of stuff

Probably 20% of people in the store were wearing masks, but closer to 80-90% of staff.

Had implemented a directional system on aisles (which was neat, if ignored)

Had NOT implemented a system to separate cashiers and customer

Had NOT implemented a system to minimize touching when paying

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Here are some pictures of things there were out of stock.

Most soup and ramen. Anything that wasn’t beef or chicken seemed to be in stock though. Gotta prep but fuck veggies and ferin flavors.

Very little rice left. Beans were low but still present.

ALL instant bread products and butter was looking a little thin too.

Whatever type of peanut butter that was, people were into it. Jif, I’d guess?

WTF SPAM? THEY WERE OUT OF SPAM? (Except Bacon and Lite)

All paper products, of course.

All cold and flu products because... reasons?

So like... overall NBD. Plenty of food, water, soda, meat, bread, eggs, milk, etc etc. Even the canned goods aisle was fine. Looks more like the supply chain is struggling to keep up with increased demand?

Also an older dude driving a bright red newer SL550 seemed VERY UPSET that about people wearing masks. He thought it was “just ridiculous” and “he’d never seen anything like it.”

Well ok then. Will me your car and I’ll take off my mask. Otherwise shut the hell up and go away.

My citroen won't start > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 16:18

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I read  an article recently about how people panic buying, or even people correctly stocking up on food and supplies were doing it somewhat wrong. Lots of good, organic and local stuff still on the shelves, but processed, mass produced stuff gone in seconds. This would be the ideal time to support local and small businesses, not big businesses that can handle the economic hardship caused by the COVID. Sad really.

Grindintosecond > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 16:18

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Good interview on NPR about supply chains. Something like this causes distributors to decide who gets what, and the large box stores get the first batch of stuff. The small corner stores will be the first to really get nothing. they may have other sources, but it willbe hard for them first.

Ash78, voting early and often > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 16:21

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I’m probably totally spoiled by Publix , but that looks like a pic from a small 1980s Piggly Wiggly, not a large, modern grocery store . I would absolutely take Costco over that

(full disclosure: Costco is my last choice for regular, sub-$3 00 grocery runs, mainly due to the overall inconvenience and lack of selection. Good for bulk or if you’re not too picky ).

The only truly cool grocery store I’ve ever seen is called Stew Leonard’ s and is limited to mainly the NY tri-state area.

fintail > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 16:23

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I love how the demographic most likely to be claimed by this mess is the one most loudly opposed to precautions.

I’ve noticed locally some pasta sections have been decimated too.

For Sweden > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 16:23

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Grocery stores should have one-way isles at all times.

Stef Schrader > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 16:26

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People are weird. My lil’ neighborhood store had a pretty good selection yesterday, including of stuff I needed (cheese, fizzy water, beer and TP ). I felt like I won the gottdang lottery for the TP. There was definitely extra TP brought in from the bigger Fiesta mart, though. I don’t poop much! I just need the regular-sized pack!

lone_liberal > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 16:28

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I have to go get some milk today so it will be interesting to see how they compare. Last time I was there it was pretty much the pasta, canned food and paper goods that were gone but there was plenty of fresh produce and meat. 

Steve in Manhattan > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 16:31

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We haven’t panic bought, but we get one delivery a week here in Manhattan. As soon as one order comes, we reserve the slot for the next, usually a week away is the earliest available , and we just adjust the order  until it’s time for them to shop. And we tip well, as they’re taking risks so we can stay home.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > For Sweden 04/07/2020 at 16:35

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I dunno. More rules just means I get angrier when most people don’t follow them.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Ash78, voting early and often 04/07/2020 at 16:38

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Haha yeah... It is an older moderately -upscale   local chain and this store is one of the only ones they haven’t upgraded. The new stores are swanky but generally have less selection and the fancy aisles make it hard to just fucking shop.

facw > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 16:44

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Just went to a grocery store today and it was nowhere near that bad. They were out of paper goods and hand soap, plus a few weird items (B artlet t pears? Non-organic radishes? ), but generally were well stocked, and generally only had purchasing limits on the stuff they were out of. They had gone to one way aisles (one old woman seemed very disturbed I was walking towards her in an aisle even though she was going the wrong way). I’d guess it was about 50/50 on masks for both customers and employees (I had my face covered). They had set up plexiglass shields between the customer and cashier. Didn’t see if they wiped down the pin pad after use but I doubt it (Trader Joe’s did this last time I was there though). They had highly visible cleaning staff wandering the store disinfecting things.

jimz > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 16:57

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where are people putting all of this shit they’re over-buying? 

DipodomysDeserti > My citroen won't start 04/07/2020 at 17:02

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Yeah, my stores have had plenty of fresh veggies and fruit, which is what you sould be eating if you don’t want to get sick and use less TP.

wafflesnfalafel > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 17:05

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even in a global pandemic nobody wants the SPAM-lite...

Boxer_4 > My citroen won't start 04/07/2020 at 17:25

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My non-expert opinion - I think a fair number of people are associating stocking up / preparing for shelter in place for COVID-19 with their past experiences of preparing for other disasters which are more environmental in nature - I.E. power outages and infrastructure issues. It’s hard to separate those in a lot of people’s minds especially with how out of the ordinary this is. I know I had to remind myself of this fact a few times early on.

Also, the extent of businesses closing wasn’t fully known at the beginning, at least in the US, and I think people’s minds ran wild. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > For Sweden 04/07/2020 at 17:30

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I’ve lived with that and it sucks. The big grocery store my mom went to when I was a kid had a one-way system. There was one wall parallel to the front wall of the building. The stacks were pushed either to the back wall or to that front wall. You would go in a door, turn right, grab a cart, go to the far right wall, turn left, go to the back wall, then zig-zag through the aisles until you reach the far left wall (there was no way to skip any aisles) , turn left, and go to the front wall where t he check out stands were located. If you forgo t anything, you had to either exit the building and go through the maze again, or back-track against the flow of traffic.

It suuuuuuuucked.

For Sweden > TheRealBicycleBuck 04/07/2020 at 17:40

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There is an answer

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > wafflesnfalafel 04/07/2020 at 18:02

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Right!? Our Shipt shopper grabbed some last time. I haven’t tried it yet but I’m assuming it is pretty gross. (I like Spam .)

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > jimz 04/07/2020 at 18:03

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I guess the same place they put all that ammo they bought in 2008-2016 ?

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > facw 04/07/2020 at 18:05

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Yeah Costco was big on disinfecting... but they were disinfecting odd stuff like the plexi shield.... not the pin pad or pens.

For Sweden > My citroen won't start 04/07/2020 at 18:23

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If you’re locked in your house for a month, you want canned food.

My citroen won't start > For Sweden 04/07/2020 at 18:35

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I (nor the article) were speaking ill of canned food, shelf- stable stuff is ideal for a time like this (even if people are still allowed to shop normally and the supply chain is working). There is still a ton of canned/shelf- stable good produced by local businesses being ignored.

sony1492 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 18:36

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The reduced sodium spam is the best version aside from Hickory though. Not sure if that’s the same thing as Lite since I’m pretty sure its directly labeled reduced sodium

Also, as grocery workers I think we are obligated to wear  masks. People have to buy groceries and if we aren’t shielding them from us its forcing the public into a potentia lly dangerous encounter.

My bird IS the word > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 18:55

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Nah thats full of all the ammo they bought last month

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 19:18

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My localish grocery store is requiring all employees to wear masks and has sneeze guards at all the registers. But doesn’t have disinfectant at the in it out door like Walmart.

They did have disinfectant wipes at the registers for cashiers to use after a cash transaction. I got some to use between deliveries in my car. Also cleaning the steering wheel, shifter and inside door handles very regularly. 

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > sony1492 04/07/2020 at 20:04

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I have some reduced sodium in my pantry that I haven’t tried.  Lite is 25% less fat I believe.

lone_liberal > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 20:10

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I just got back from our local Albertsons. I didn’t go through the whole store since I was just after milk and fruit but I did go down the baking aisle  to see if I could find some brown sugar and yeast for my parents. Nope. No toilet paper or paper towels either. Not a single roll. Only a couple of people were wearing masks. None of the cashiers were. 

sony1492 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 20:15

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Lite is worthless then

Nauraushaun > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 20:53

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He thought it was “just ridiculous” and “he’d never seen anything like it.” 

Nobody has ever seen anything like it, that’s the whole point haha. It’s unprecedented! We haven’t had a pandemic like this within the lifespan of any human. Certainly not since the age of air travel and easy fast communication!

That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > fintail 04/07/2020 at 21:07

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last saturday I had to run to post office, see 3 cars outside, I hang around @5min, then walk over to I look inside, theres 3 60+ year olds just chatting away right next to each other in front of the PO boxes in a room thats at most 12x6. F that i’ll go monday. .

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > My citroen won't start 04/07/2020 at 21:10

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When this first started my area was the exact opposite. Produce section was empty, To the point of Where the F are they storing this? C an section empty, Frozen fully stocked.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > lone_liberal 04/07/2020 at 21:12

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A little bit more, but organic is ultra pasturized at a higher temp and lasts much longer.

Under_Score > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/07/2020 at 21:34

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Why are people STILL panic buying toilet paper? I thought that paranoia died a few weeks ago. Bread and all that is back to normal, but that toilet paper.

I was pretty pissed off when stuff started closing, I finally kind of got used to it, and now I’m just kind of pissed off again. Even if they only allow ten people in at a time initially, at least some big retail stores like Ross should open up again. I’m a pretty nice person, but I know I’d definitely be like Mercedes guy if I was a Boomer that didn’t care what I said around others.

fintail > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 04/07/2020 at 21:36

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The invincible generation, they’ve done it all and know it all.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 04/08/2020 at 08:22

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The plebeian grocery I go to most often has been limiting purchases of bread, eggs, milk, and paper products as well as most sanitation products to two per transaction. They’ve still been out of almost all of it (with the exception of the single rolls of TP and the organic eggs that are like $3 a dozen) since this started. I haven’t noticed employees wearing masks or anything, but I’ve also not been in over a week.

Sometimes, however, I play interloper and go to the Patrician’s grocery. The TP is even ransacked there, even at their 150% sew fawncey markup, again excepting the single rolls. However, at the checkouts, all employees wore gloves, plexiglass sneeze barriers hung from the ceiling between customer and cashier, and large visible stickers on the floor were placed six feet apart for customers to queue upon. At this store, where a single orange costs $3, the staff all wore matching t-shirts silk screened with a gimicky logo and a slogan saying something to the effect of “we’re all in this together”.

Of course, the customer base all crowded up in the lines and poked their heads around the sneeze guards because you really can’t talk through them. Wiping down loyalty cards with an alcohol-soaked rag was a nice touch though.