Grocery store, firearms store, other retail store updates

News & Current Events
1

I keep asking my daughter (16yr) to check with her friends about what they may be seeing in particularly the grocery stores. I think this is a good indicator of society, whether there is still civility or if there are indications of a breakdown.

(All this I hope is mute with announcement of a cure yesterday, keep your fingers crossed)

Then I thought to get a bigger picture of what actually is going on is to reach out to all of us here in the USCCA Community as that would be a better demographic and more observant analysis of what maybe going on over some 16yr olds on social media.

I think these are relevant questions to ask, if you wish to volunteer more info, fantastic.

What town are you in?
Johnson City/Dripping Springs Texas
When did you shop?
3/15
Where did you shop?
HEB Grocery store in Dripping Springs, Texas (large town just west of Austin TX)
What did the inventory look like?
Deli Counter closed, pre-sliced stuff sitting in a bin
Butcher, no chicken, limits on quantity buying, beef inventory was very low, lots of pork with no limits.
Produce 1/3 empty
Frozen almost all gone except ice cream
Dairy 50% inventory, most organics like Mootopia (Low Carb Milk)were still available, as they cost a lot more, no eggs, biscuits, lots of cookie dough
General inventory, no ramen noodles, soups low, bread low, not even going to talk about TP, (Daahh) Coffee & Pop 50% inventory.
Over all attitude demeanor of shoppers?
No one was freaking out, all seemed fine not in a hurry, small talk checking out.
Any incidents good or bad
None, same 'ole same ole, but then again this was 5 days ago.
Notes/Comments
I have not been to Cabela’s or Academy since this started. Gas stations all have gas and getting cheaper every day. $1.80.

3 Likes
2

Johnson City, TX
3/20
Lowes local small town grocery store.
The inventory was well stocked with maybe a 10% reduction. There was plenty of everything from meat to milk to boxed foods and frozen.
No TP still
There were very few shoppers inside but who were there were as usual, casual, no sense of urgency and smiley.

1 Like
3

Pickerington, OH
Kroger stocked with exception of bread, meat (beef, chicken and fish sold out, but pork, sausages and lunch meats available–but NO BACON), and paper products.
Fizbin–you know where that bacon comment’s headed!
Stay safe!

2 Likes
4

Columbus–Sam’s club–well stocked except meat, limits on bread (1 product–bread, rolls, buns), TP and some personal products (feminine hygiene).
Had one brand of bacon–over $8/lb. And the wife didn’t buy it. Thought she knew me.

1 Like
5

We went to our local HEB (Fredericksburg, TX) 3/27.
There were plenty of: meats, chicken, pork,
Milk was still low on inventory with exception of like the expensive milks, which we get the low carb one anyway and they had plenty.
The coffee row had taken a pretty big hit.
TP - still at zero for some reason but once again we have plenty.

Oh, I just remembered something. The cashier said that some folks have gotten pissed and verbally gotten upset and thrown a few things when they are told at the checkout line to stand behind certain lines.

The store had a medium amount of shoppers and all seemed to be in normal spirits

6

What town are you in?
Riverview, FL
When did you shop?
4/1
Where did you shop?
Publix on the corner of Big Bend Rd. and US Hwy 301
What did the inventory look like?
Some empty shelves, most things in medium- to low supply.
Over all attitude demeanor of shoppers?
No small talk, a lot of social distancing, but quite a few still wandering aimlessly, blocking the aisles by leaving the cart on one side, standing in the middle and pondering over salad dressing options…
Any incidents good or bad
None.
Notes/Comments
Only the fourth time I have been away from home since 3/15.

1 Like
7

Walmart, Pickerington, OH.
TP was low/absent.
No other issues–they even had shotguns in stock.

2 Likes
8

Pocatello, Idaho. 4/1
Costco with the mrs. Lots of supply, no Kirkland tp, but pallets of other brands with limits.
People friendly, lots of shoppers as first of the month. Lots of supply of everything! Costco opens early for seniors to shop. Seniors only. Then opens for all ages. Kinda racists’? Just kidding…taking a poke at the racism bs.
3/31 Winco grocery, at about 9pm, they were limiting people in the store to 200. Well stocked.
People friendly.
Both stores were politely telling people where to stand, on the tape areas. No problems. Everyone calm and polite.

Since we are an essential supplier, our gas prices are coming down. Some of the local fuel distributors are delivering gas to farmers etc, at 1.50 gallon, red diesel the same. We are busy with work, and thankful.

Drove by the local family gun store…busy, no place to park. Haven’t been buy Sportsmans warehouse, and/or our local Cabelas is it is in Idaho Falls.

Stopped by Norco, our welding supply shop to get a bottle of argon, they had curbside service. Everyone friendly. They also sell medical supplies. No problems. Lots of supply.

Stopped by harbor freight to get a needed tool, and put an extended warranty on a gas driven compressor we bought, everyone friendly and cheerful. Ran into some folks we know, had a great conversation.

Our 16 year old had her phone taken away because of lack of responsibility. The cell phone issue for youngsters is detrimental, and we hate it. She is in counseling and counselors say the same.

Counselors are active, and seeing clients.

Hobby Lobby is shut down, as well as other big stores. Tire stores are open, and fast food places are busy.

Our local farming is taking off, and lots of fertilizer/seed/hay trucks on the road.

I spoke with a company that hauls jet fuel, and the airports are slow, and not much happening in the way of jet fuel trucking.

I did call an essential business, a valve manufacturer, as needed some particular valve parts, in Des Moines Iowa, and they are shut down, nobody answers the phone. Thank goodness I had a new valve, that I discovered. I called an essential supplier off the east coast, and they have lots of supply, parts on the way.

Now for the concern…if the economy rebounds, and everyone needs gas for their cars, there may be a gas shortage. I am not predicting, so don’t panic. I remember the days of gas allocations and long lines waiting for gas, as the prices were rising…60’s or 70’s…cant remember exactly. Just a concern.
Don’t panic.

We are not farmers, but we live in the country, and I always say “we don’t get off the farm much!” LOL!

9

2 April 2020, Treasure Coast, Florida, Publix:

No paper products
No Raman noodle soup
Little low on zip-locks
Seemed like pretty good supply of everything else

Liquor store was well stocked - Islay Scotch still out of my price range, have to stick with the Glen’s :slight_smile:

Edit: I bought cream of stuff soup, 10 for $10, orange juice, and Kombucha, 2 for $5

Saw a lot of that!

3 Likes
10

Kroger, PIckerington, OH last week.
Well stocked. People friendly.
I did see something that made me chuckle. A younger guys (20s) with a flat brim hat, gold chains, and a gauged ear had his essentials–a case of spaghettios and a case of beer.
Why waste money on a variety of food or beer when you know what you like, right?

2 Likes
11

I personally have a thing about people blocking isles with carts as they spend 10 minutes trying to decide on the red pill or the blue pill.

In the past I have asked politely and if no response gently moved the cart out of my way. In the case of someone snapping at me I just ram their cart with mine and continue on.

Now, if someone wants to be snotty to me I just smile and say, I am not sick and do not carry the virus to the best of my knowledge, but if you dont get this D@MN cart out of my way I am going to cough all over it!

For some unknown reason no one has talked back or been slow at moving their cart.

(Yes I know I can be an @$$ but I figure if their parents didn’t teach them any common courtesy I have an obligation to try.)

Am I joking or not? You decide.

1 Like
12

NW suburbs of Chicago… I have a feeling we have a slight break in craziness in the MidWest, but am expecting more craziness as the infections start climbing (suggested by administration) and lay offs start to affect people’s ability to buy food or other essentials.

After the first few days of panic buying, 90% of the grocery is restocked now. Some things are spartan, e.g. the frozen pizza, eggs, cheese area is probably at 35% of normal, and flavored bagels seem to always be gone. TP, PT, and hand sanatizer are usually bare, but TP and PT pop up now and then… even Kleenex is very spartan.

Walmart will sometimes have TP if you wait in line before openning. One day I waited 5 minutes after the open to go in, saw people with carts having one package of TP, but by the time I got to the TP isle it was all gone. PT shelves were bare now, too.

Went to the local range and Cabelas to see how they are doing. At Cabelas, the handgun ammo is picked clean, as with many of the more popular rifle rounds. Plenty of shotgun ammo, though. I was told that the firearms were picked clean, but I didn’t check (got distracted with the boom of people in the ammo aisle). Usually when I visit Cabelas, only 10% of the customers are in the firearm/ammo area. This time it was the other way around. Additionally, they were restricting the number of customers to 50 at any one time in the building. There was an employee by the front door asking people why they were coming in.

The local gun shop was not busy (similar to other early weekdays). However, their SD ammo was mostly gone… mostly. The firearms themselves seemed well stocked. I just did a once over to check prices and check the used shelves, but I heard the employees directing customers to form a line if they wanted to look at or purchase a firearm (probably 4 people in line). Interestingly, they had a lot of BM knives with reduced pricing (never seen that before at that shop in the 20 years I’ve gone there). Unfortunately, the one I was interested in (BM Turret) was not on sale.

13

This was an awesome update, thanks!

1 Like
14

April 5, 2020; BassPro Port Saint Lucie, Florida: I checked on line last night and website said they had Winchester 5.56 150 round target in stock. I had a $20 off coupon I wanted to use before it expired, so ventured out this morning. Found a package of 3M N95 masks that have been in the garage paint cabinet for a couple years, so wore one.

Limit was 2 boxes, so got 300 rounds @ 29 cents per round. Guy working there recognized me so we talked. I asked about 9mm bulk. He said they got a shipment Friday, all gone Saturday. Said the 5.56 in my hands would be gone by afternoon.

Saw pallets of 20 and 12 shotgun they were working on putting on the shelves…

15

Yours is the second report on plenty of Shotgun. Remember when the ammo scare happened during “O”. They always had plenty of SG ammo back then too. Always makes me think I should get another shotgun. Of course near everything makes me think of shopping.

1 Like