# Food (etc) shortages: will they last? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 20, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-etc-shortages-will-they-last/849897 "2020-03-20T16:02:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 78
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-etc-shortages-will-they-last/849897/78 "2020-05-30T23:38:17Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I was at the supermarket a couple of days ago, and despite the fact that the country has been on lockdown, it seems to be fairly well stocked. There’s plenty of toilet paper and paper towels, albeit of a brand I’ve never seen before; I’m curious to hear the story behind that. I’ve experienced the same thing: TP is available, but the brands are unfamiliar and varied. There was a post in the “Went to Costco, it was a bit scary” thread\* that may explain it: > [@Went to Costco This Morning. Was a Little Bit Scary.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/473): > > I deliberately go to the grocery store late at night to see how well they’re stocked. The TP aisle was completely stocked. had an interesting conversation with the person stocking shelves. He said the buyers didn’t place orders like they normally did for TP. they got what the distributors had available in the pipeline. \*FWIW, doesn’t sound like Costco (or anywhere) is nearly as scary anymore as it was a month or two ago. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-etc-shortages-will-they-last/849897)._