I have a friend in Maine. Last week she emailed and said, "I am noticing in past few weeks big gaps on shelves in the grocery store in next town. In two areas today, all the shelves – top, middle and bottom, for 1/4 length of the aisle – were completely empty! To be honest I don't know what was there, but it's not there now. And the prices!!!!!!! Eggs are $4.59, a can of Spam is $4.39. I got a bag of Tostidos corn chips as I am making chili, $4.49! Generics or store brands are also disappearing. I wonder what is going on?"
I asked her to send me photos next time she was in town, and she sent the following pictures, along with a note saying, "Here are the empty shelves in grocery store I was telling you about. They are not even spacing stuff far apart like when the COVID shortages were occurring. The hardware and auto parts stores look the same way. All we hear is it's because of supply-chain issues. I thought we worked all through that mess already!"
In our local community, we haven't noticed much by way of shortages. I took a rare trip to the city a couple weeks ago and everything seemed fine. It makes me wonder if the shortages my friend is seeing are a regional thing ... or if I'm not seeing shortages because the stores are doing a better job of hiding it.
What is everyone else seeing?
shelves are full when they can find someon to fill them
ReplyDeletelooks like a very small store,maybe thing that were not selling
ReplyDeleteI am starting to notice some empy shelves in my area, in several different stores, not huge empty spaces, but some. I am also wondering what is going on. I am makeing sure we are stocked up on basics and things we use a lot of. Will be interesting to see what happens in the next few monthsm especially with the increase in prices. I grew up on an island in SE Alaska in the 1950's. If there was a long shoreman strike in Seattle, there was no boat that week from Alaska steamship ( the only way we got any supplies) that week. Grocery shelves were empty in a few days. So I grew up always having several months supply on hand. I personally think we will see more and more of this and we need to be prepared, whether it is stocking up from the grocery store, canning and or freezing. 2 years ago we moved from a half acre, with garden, etc. to a 55 plus community with just a patio and flower beds to grow veggies in. I am looking at ways to increase what I can grow this year. May be I will send you pictures this summer if my plans work out and I can increase my garden yield.
ReplyDeleteThere are videos on Youtube for people using container gardening on decks and patios. You can look under subject. One site my wife watches is becoming a farm girl.
DeleteWe are doing albeit slowly due to heslth problems but it is viable.
Patrice, some of this can be at the basic producer level. About 5-6 weeks back, it was impossible to get Arugula in our corner of the world - not from any vast conspiracy but a crop failure that impact the supply chains throughout the region.
ReplyDeleteI love in south west PA and haven't seen any empty shelves. Both at Wal-Mart and aldi.
ReplyDeleteAll shelves are well-stocked here in Alabama.
ReplyDeleteHad my teeth cleaned last week, asked for the usual numbing agent to be applied to my gums. Hygenist said, sure, if I have enough....she said supply issues are the cause of her shortage....this is in New England...
ReplyDeleteSan Jose Bay Area here — occasionally we like a sparkling water. There have been no plain sparkling waters on Safeway shelves for months. There are flavored waters but no plain. Also no Fiber One. Steal for two years.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Fiber One dissappeared for quite a while in my area for a long time. It's back now. I like it as a salad topping instead of croutons, and to add to some other things. Right before it came back I found the "generic" at Publix! Publix brand fiber one! Without the shortage I would have never discovered the less expensive Same Thing. It had never occurred to me that it had a store brand.
DeleteMy cat food hasn't been stock the past few times I've gone to buy some. Had to switch to something else. Store employee said it was supply issues as well.
ReplyDeleteMany purina and hill's brand pet foods are in a "silent recall" because they are killing pets. It's under investigation but so far nothing concrete. A facebook page calle, "Saving Pets One Pet At A Time" has hundreds of pet owners sharing their experiences with tainted foods resulting in bloody vomiting, diarrea, wobbling, elevated liver enzymes and death. After the Victor recall I switched my dogs and cats to a raw diet. Just something to be aware of. IF your animal refuses kibble don't force it, something is wrong with the food.
DeleteSwitched my 2 dogs to Gentle Giants brand a couple years ago, was purina pro-plan.
DeleteDO NOT REGRET A THING! Doggo's are great, even the old guy, still jumps and prances like a puppy.
i don't shop wal mart on a regular basis, so it was very obvious to me last time i wandered in the local store that they had reconfigured. instead of spacing things out on the shelves, they had increased the spacing between the shelves themselves. the wider isles are nice, and fewer shelves means it is easier to hide the reduction in merchandise. last week, Tractor Supply began reconfiguring in the same way. other than that, most products are readily available.
ReplyDeleteI noticed in CDA last week the freezer shelves are very bare. We have to go in for a dr appointment Wednesday and do some shopping and I’ll be curious to see how the shelves are stocked. I’ve certainly noticed that even if the shelves are stocked the variety is not there.
ReplyDeleteWent into CDA and went to Walmart, sparsely filled shelves. Completely out of some items I wanted or only 1 or 2 on the shelves. Bi-Mart, the same way. I feel like I live in a 3rd world country anymore.
DeleteWhole Foods meat counter is about a third of what it was last year here in Iowa.
ReplyDeleteAnon
Kroger, Lidl, and Costco are well stocked here in middle Georgia.
ReplyDeleteYes. In the last couple of years it is always something completely unavailable. You can see it on Amazon too. Some over the counter medication. Certain clothing items. Even some prescriptions are unavailable without a wait.
ReplyDeleteReal bathing suits?
DeleteOutside Knoxvegas TN everything is mostly normal.
ReplyDeleteA few oddball things like irregular brands, but for the most part, all is back to normal.
Did she ASK why the shelves were bare? Seems like a simple way to find out what's up at the store.
ReplyDeleteFull shelves in the Publix grocery stores in my Florida town, even with all the vacationers, bikers, and snowbirds. Saw a great bumper sticker. “Welcome to Florida. Now go home!”
ReplyDeleteI would blame it on the recession that doesn't exist, but I don't recall this ever happening like this with other recessions.
ReplyDeleteThe other issue few are talking about is the collapse of a couple of freight brokers recently. The big one was Convoy, but there have been a couple of others as well.
ReplyDeleteThere have been big ripple effects in parts of the country and certain industries. Some trucking companies are struggling with being paid because the contracts required all payments go through brokers (who are now no longer on the map).
And of course this is on top of other lingering supply issues...
Jonathan
I live in Mississippi, and our closest Dollar General is perpetually out of laundry detergent. I don’t know why that is, but it’s the one store I see with gaps in the shelves. I have my groceries delivered, so I don’t go in the bigger stores. I’ll have to ask around and see if they are missing things.
ReplyDeleteAlso in Maine. No major problems although some brands are hit and miss. In the past I have seen empty shelves in rural stories caused by insufficient owner capital. When times are hard you see this happen and then the store closes. Best thing to do is just ask what is happening.
ReplyDeleteThe first pic was of a snack section, and the 2nd was next to bottles of juice and I'm thinking individual servings of juice were out. Restaurants have closed and your burger, fry, drink set of folks might not be liking the current price tag. So I'm going out on a limb and saying a lot more people are packing lunches for work and school. Add to that more people are actually prepping for our multitude of weather events and all that single serve and snacky stuff are easy go to items to stock up on.
ReplyDeleteThe next aisle was the pork section of meats with plenty of bacon and some hot dogs. Don't see pork chops or pork roasts. Those are inexpensive but good meats. Of course we see the move Tyson is making with its pork production, laying off long term workers to hire migrant workers for no benefits. The layoffs used to be migrants, but they settled in, got benefits and formed the bulk of their community around that stable job. So that section may be going through a cut back or pause of some sort. Not here.
The last aisle is probably laundry detergent from what's on either side.
Who knows. Usually it's the bleach section mostly bare . I think most of us are buying plenty of bleach.
Stay stocked and roll with the flow.
Winco, here in SW Oregon has never fully restocked. Shelves have goods, but a lot of empty space behind, when before the big C they were usually full all the way back. Now and then they will be out of something, but the next visit, it is back.
ReplyDeleteSE Wisconsin; every once in awhile, I've been noticing gaps. I wonder if the philosophy on many of these things these days is "better to run out than throw away". So many places are on such thin margins...
ReplyDeleteOur local feed store in north central Florida told me his dog food went from an 8 week lead time to 12 weeks. Fido will be eating kitchen scraps.
ReplyDeleteI think some of this has to do with your community. One large store I frequent has a lot of trailers behind the store. I'm thinking one of the reasons they stay stocked is they maintain a good inventory. With the constant price increases maintaining extra inventory is smart. Some older models of inventory management would have inventory kept at a minimum. But now, with fast increasing prices, potential for shipping problems or increased shipping costs, keeping high inventory, is actually a good investment. Like prepping. They're pretty much guaranteed to be buying low and selling high. Shelves are stocked, but not overstocked. This also accounts for why sometimes things appear on the shelves that are near their expiration date. They've been prepurchased in bulk and held back. My only real concern about that, especially since we get to enjoy stocked shelves, is that canned goods need a constant good temperature for proper storage.
ReplyDeleteI talked to a person that orders all the "food" for Walmart last year. I was looking for a specific canned item that was no longer the the shelf. He said that the store brands were slowly being discontinued because not as much Mark up as name brand. Another Walmart had very little canned goods in their brand. But no shortages of anything.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the California Central Valley. Local grocery store is on the small side for the local chain, now owned by Albertson's. Only gap in food at the store was past. But they were running a really good sale and it was the last day of the sale. So a gap was to be expected. Otherwise, shelves appear well stocked.
ReplyDeleteThe local DollarTree, however, was another story. Went in yesterday for the first time in a few weeks. The store had been changed over to a 'Plus Store' now with new items ranging in price from $3 thru $5. And the new, higher priced items were intermixed with the 'regular' $1.25 priced items. And every product in the store except the cooler had been relocated.
SJ now in California
So far, so good lately here in southern California, as far as grocery store inventory goes. The PRICES, however, are still going up without end. Gas is $4.69/gallon at Exxon for regular in my podunk Western town!
ReplyDeleteEverything seems normal here in the Milwaukee area. The large grocery stores are well stocked. The smaller health food stores we frequent have occasional gaps probably due there being more specialty items.
ReplyDeleteMy local Walmart is going through "re-organizaation" where many sections of shelves are being removed and wider isles are the result. I have a theory that in the future, cities and metropolitan areas will be better stocked than the rural areas as those IN CHARGE want the cities to flourish
ReplyDeleteThe first, second and fourth photos are what it looks like when a store does a reset of an aisle or product section. First, they move products to nearby shelves (note the full shelves right next to the empty ones). Then they adjust the shelves up or down, and add or subtract shelves as needed. Finally, they will move the products back, and/or add new stuff or stuff from other areas.
ReplyDeleteOne big hint that these are pics of a store reset is the shelf price tags. They are missing on the empty shelves. When you move a product to another area, even temporarily, you move the price tag too. When items are out-of-stock, they leave the price tags on the shelf so when the next shipment comes it, stockers know where to put it. Almost none of the empty shelves have price labels on them, so it's not stuff that is sold-out, it's stuff that has been moved.
Pic #1 is what it looks like when you either don't have enough room nearby for products on shelves that are going to be reset, or when they are moving stuff to a new aisle/location in the store. In smaller stores, the workers will be doing this as they get time, and if the store gets busy, they will call the workers back to other areas as needed, so it's not obvious what is happening at all times. It also might take weeks to do a major reset in a small or medium store, but I am fairly sure that if you go back to that same store in a few weeks, those empty shelves will be full -- just probably not full of the same products.