# Went to Costco This Morning. Was a Little Bit Scary. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 11, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294 "2020-03-11T18:58:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 24
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/461 "2020-05-23T21:27:02Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Also, I have a major hostility for the price-gouging hoarder locusts who swept shelves bare so they could extort exorbitant prices for necessities from their neighbors. I flatly refuse to reward such behavior with my money. People are selling necessities to their neighbors? Where? šŸ˜• Iā€™ve not read anything about it. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/462 "2020-05-23T22:53:52Z")
What I meant is that I strongly believe a lot of the scarcity issues are from hoarder locusts deliberately clearing store shelves so that others in their community cannot obtain necessities without paying extortionate gouging prices to said hoarder locusts, such as on eBay or Amazon. I have also seen photos of people selling (for example) toilet paper out of their cars at insanely high prices ($5/roll sticks out in my mind). ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/463 "2020-05-23T23:45:20Z")
We donā€™t have a Costco or any warehouse-type store for a 50 mile radiius, but I went to our Wal-Mart for the first time in three weeks. I thought they might have restocked from the first panic rush in early March, but the shelves were much emptier now than then. Low on all meats, including chicken, low on eggs, havenā€™t had any paper products for over 2 months; soup, pasta, flour, yeast donā€™t exist anymore. Produce and dairy departments looked pretty well stocked. Large pallets scattered all over, but no one to transfer them to shelves. The in-store Subway is out of business. As I loaded my car from a shopping cart, an employee came up and offered to take the cart, so I thanked him. He said, ā€œHave a nice day,ā€ and I didnā€™t feel obligated to respond again. So he repeated it, in caps, ā€œI said, **HAVE A NICE DAY**.ā€ I told him, ā€œSure.ā€ I guess some tolerance is in short supply after all. One thing I donā€™t understand is why Wal-Mart, with all their purchasing muscle, is unable to get adequate supplies. Locally, at least, they are the least stocked of any similar outlets, and have been for two months. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/464 "2020-05-24T02:43:03Z")
I just got back from Vons. They were pretty much stocked up with everything. If it wasnā€™t for the masks and weird stickers on the floor, youā€™d think it was February. They had Charmin, garlic, plenty of produce and meat. The only thing they didnā€™t have was all purpose flour. It wasnā€™t very crowded either. Of course, Iā€™m in California and we are pretty self sufficient when it comes to produce, cattle, chickens and seafood. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/465 "2020-05-24T09:42:51Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > One thing I donā€™t understand is why Wal-Mart, with all their purchasing muscle, is unable to get adequate supplies. Locally, at least, they are the least stocked of any similar outlets, and have been for two months. Iā€™ve been trying to figure that out as well. My guess is that a couple things happened all at once. First, Walmart was slammed with demand. Their domestic sales went up by 10%, increasing over $8B from $80B. Also, their online sales rose 74%. In order to keep up with the demand and ramp up quickly, they hired 235K new employees. But those people needed to be trained in a hurry. I donā€™t think itā€™s always that easy to throw that many new people in the mix and expect to get better service. Iā€™m guessing that the merchandise wasnā€™t lacking in many cases. It might have been getting it out of the trucks and on the shelves that was the issue. And then for the online orders, the packing. [Walmart And Target Win Big In Sales But Only Walmart Sees Bottom Line Win](https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/2020/05/22/first-quarter-results-for-walmart-were-very-stro/) According to this article, other stores, including Target, didnā€™t see as much of an increase in demand until after the stimulus checks. Walmartā€™s problem was more complex than Amazonā€™s too because Walmart is trying to increase online as well as sell in brick and mortar. Amazon has Whole Foods, but itā€™s not on the same scale as Walmart. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/466 "2020-05-24T09:54:36Z")
Iā€™m seeing toilet paper pretty much everywhere. Sheba cat food in those 24-double pack boxes, however, are out in a lot of stores. And if they do have them at least one flavor will be either salmon or tuna. Imhotep hates both. The trout she thought was great, though. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/467 "2020-05-25T00:52:03Z")
Iā€™m having some neck pain. I ordered some ThermaCare heat wraps for my Kroger pickup but they didnā€™t have them. On my way home, I decided to stop at Walgreens to see if they had some. Mind you, I havenā€™t been inside a store in several weeks. I should have turned around and left as soon as I got inside. The manager and the two cashiers were wearing their masks on their chins. But my neck hurts so I grabbed two packs as quickly as possible and got in line. More than half the customers were not wearing masks. I kept as far away from the cashier as I could and got out of there. I have to hope that this is not how most stores are handling things. I thought about saying something but I didnā€™t want to delay my exit. I did send a complaint through the Walgreens website telling them I was going to let everyone know that store is not safe to shop in. Iā€™ll never know if that does any good since Iā€™m not going back in there. Things are going to keep getting worse if people donā€™t stop being so stupid. (I can dream, right?) ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/468 "2020-05-25T01:18:01Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Yikes, wanted to grill some burgers last night. Iā€™m usually lazy and get the pre-formed ones the butcher shop at the store packages. $9/lb! Regular ground beef was $8/lb. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Yes, I couldnā€™t find yeast. And weā€™ve been making bread much more than we used to, because we donā€™t want to pop out to buy a loaf these days. So we dusted off the bread machineā€¦ At my most recent Safeway run, on 5/21, there was no yeast, but plenty of ground beef - and at only $3.50/pound (for 80/20) if you were willing to buy 4 pounds of it at a time. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/469 "2020-05-25T01:25:04Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > Iā€™m seeing toilet paper pretty much everywhere. Thatā€™s what Iā€™m seeing too. Frequently in brands Iā€™d never heard of before, but as long as itā€™ll wipe the bum, thatā€™s the main thing. I have my preferences, but this isnā€™t the time to be picky. šŸ™‚ When I was in my local Ace Hardware a week ago, they had a pretty good stock of hand sanitizer. (Donā€™t know if itā€™s chain-wide, but our local store is strict about masks, only allowing a limited number of customers in the store at a time, social distancing in the line to get in, etc. Sounds like Loweā€™s and Home Dopey arenā€™t like that. I love my local Ace. :)) > [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > What are you guys finding is still perpetually out-of-stock? I havenā€™t been able to find dried chick peas in months, and the canned variety are hit-or-miss. Havenā€™t looked for dried chickpeas, but have had no trouble finding canned lately. Thereā€™s one odd thing I have trouble finding: Pepperidge Farm sandwich white bread. Itā€™s what the Firebug makes his sandwiches with. Pre-pandemic, it wasnā€™t particularly hard to find. Now itā€™s nowhere around here - not at Giant or Safeway or Weis or Walmart or the local non-chain grocery. If I donā€™t find more soon, the kid will either have to be less picky about his bread, or give up sandwiches. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/470 "2020-05-25T01:44:09Z")
Went to Lowes today (big box home improvement store) and it was almost as if this whole Covid thing never existed. There were people wearing masks, maybe 20%, but the place was jamminā€™ and there was very little social distancing. Now that I have access to masks, Iā€™ve been wearing them in public places like that but clearly, in my part of Indiana, most people have gone back to pre-virus behavior. On the plus side, found a couple gallons of disinfectant grade bleach there. ---
**Author:** ![Amara\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7993a0/32.png) [@Amara\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amara_1)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/471 "2020-05-25T05:24:04Z")
Still no TP around here (Norcal) but it does seem to very geography-specific. I was talking to a neighbor about the TP situation and his Dad lives ~20 miles away and that Costco has reliably had toilet paper for several weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/472 "2020-05-25T05:28:59Z")
Iā€™m in northern California myself and seeing TP at places like Walmart. I donā€™t usually go to Costco in person. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/473 "2020-05-25T05:59:32Z")
I deliberately go to the grocery store late at night to see how well theyā€™re stocked. The TP aisle was completely stocked. had an interesting conversation with the person stocking shelves. He said the buyers didnā€™t place orders like they normally did for TP. they got what the distributors had available in the pipeline. Still out of spam and now theyā€™re out of pitted dates. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/474 "2020-05-25T11:54:23Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I deliberately go to the grocery store late at night to see how well theyā€™re stocked. Since Iā€™m an early-a.m. insomniac, 6 a.m. Sunday morning has become my regular shopping time. Except for Wal-Mart which doesnā€™t open until 7, theyā€™re all open, and even the ones without senior hours are uncrowded enough that I can often go the wrong way down an aisle because thereā€™s nobody else on it. And if I have to go to WallyWorld, even they arenā€™t too bad first thing Sunday morning. > [@](#): > > The TP aisle was completely stocked. had an interesting conversation with the person stocking shelves. He said the buyers didnā€™t place orders like they normally did for TP. they got what the distributors had available in the pipeline. This totally explains the _eclectic_ variety of TP brands Iā€™ve been seeing lately. For instance, Iā€™ve got a 4-pack of Regio TP in the basement; its label is entirely in Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/475 "2020-05-25T16:05:59Z")
I live in centre city phila., we have big stores in the neighbourhoods surrounding centre city. I havenā€™t been to the big store in a month. The little corner stores have a pretty good selection. I was able to get bounty paper towels and charmin in the corner store. The small intercity target didnā€™t have any paper products, or my catā€™s favourite food. Corner store did. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/476 "2020-05-25T16:10:37Z")
Toilet paper is pretty much back to normal around here, at least for the stuff I buy (the cheap single-ply with 1000 sheets per roll). One shortage that I didnā€™t anticipate, but makes sense in retrospect, is herbal tea. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/477 "2020-05-25T16:25:36Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Went to Lowes today (big box home improvement store) and it was almost as if this whole Covid thing never existed. There were people wearing masks, maybe 20%, but the place was jamminā€™ and there was very little social distancing. Now that I have access to masks, Iā€™ve been wearing them in public places like that but clearly, in my part of Indiana, most people have gone back to pre-virus behavior. > > On the plus side, found a couple gallons of disinfectant grade bleach there. I donā€™t know if you might have Menardā€™s stores in your area; theyā€™re a low price version of Lowes/Home Depot (like Walmart versus Target). Anyway, they have some strict policies: no one under 16 years old, mandatory masks, six-foot spacing marks. Went there yesterday for some grass seed; it was actually more comfortable and less intimidating because everyone was wearing a mask. No disapproving or judgmental looks, since everyone is following the same rules. I donā€™t shop at Costco but I wonder if shoppers there feel somewhat the same way about the mandatory mask policy. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/478 "2020-05-25T17:25:27Z")
Weā€™re going to try an organic CSA with delivery for 6 months. Itā€™s a local consortium so we can get meat and honey as well as produce. They deliver for $5. You order each week (in contrast to the ā€œyou get what you getā€-style CSA). This ought to improve the quality of the produce and meat, and decrease our Fred Meyer/Albertsonā€™s bill, as well as decrease the number of curbside pickups weā€™re making each month. We figure weā€™ll trade, freeze, or dry anything in excess. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/479 "2020-05-26T00:58:13Z")
Lowes yesterday, and I was surprised: 100% mask use. Seriously. I saw no one without a face covering (where Iā€™m equating face covering and mask, I suppose). Social distancing was awesome too. I didnā€™t expect this. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/480 "2020-05-26T01:55:35Z")
Winco shoppers were a bit more attentive to distancing than Walmart shoppers. I think higher mask usage at Winco as well. And I found hand sanitizer in the wild! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294.md?page=23) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294.md?page=25)