Grocery Store - Trip Report

I'd go to the one by you on Green Valley sometimes and found it a bit nicer. The Safeway in Bisbee is very ordinary, while the one in Sierra Vista has many more options.

Wow.

My last store visit I found the toilet paper section to be perhaps 95% back to normal, with only a few name brands in certain quantities unavailable. Today I go shopping and find the paper aisle practically empty.

I guess the talk and rumors of big lockdowns going into flu season is causing another run.

Quote: Gialmere

Wow.

My last store visit I found the toilet paper section to be perhaps 95% back to normal, with only a few name brands in certain quantities unavailable. Today I go shopping and find the paper aisle practically empty.

I guess the talk and rumors of big lockdowns going into flu season is causing another run.

The flu?? Maybe. Maybe not. Your situation in SoCal may be significantly different than most of the other states.

Johns Hopkins Univ. reports California is only 1 of 10 states with C-virus positivity levels under 5 percent, the safe-to-open benchmark. Not so for the other 40 states, where C-virus is spreading "like wildfire," as Dr. Fauci predicted. But, California's positivity level is rising, and savvy SoCal shoppers may be preparing for wildfire-prone California to be next with runaway C-virus.

Living in what is generously described as rural America, shopping choices are few and far between. I've started to stockpile a few things in preparation for what now seems like it will be inevitable. Toilet paper and paper towels are currently restricted to one package per cart but they are selling huge packages. I grabbed a 24 roll pack and a six pack the visit before. Picked up a case of tomato sauce and another of ziti noodles. I recently won a case of 144 powdered energy shakes that originally cost $259 for $35 at an auction, so if the SHTF, I am semi-prepared. If it doesn't, I won't have to shop as much.

Quote: AZDuffman

Always has been. I think back to how much I could have made underringing items if I had a partner. Ring out a steak for half a buck.

When I had the bar I would occasionally
hire a professional spotter. Give him
20 bucks and free drinks and he would
watch everything the bartender rung
up to see if he was under ringing
and pocketing the rest. Never caught
anybody.

In big stores they watch the cashiers
far more than the customers for fraud.
A good team can take a store for
thousands.

Quote: EvenBob

When I had the bar I would occasionally
hire a professional spotter. Give him
20 bucks and free drinks and he would
watch everything the bartender rung
up to see if he was under ringing
and pocketing the rest. Never caught
anybody.

In big stores they watch the cashiers
far more than the customers for fraud.
A good team can take a store for
thousands.

See at night I was not really watched at all. Daytime would have been hard. Today at WMT you would need to be insane to try to steal at the register. I helped install cameras a couple nights. Amazing stuff. Casino grade or better. You can read the serial number on the bills!

All of us who went *tsk tsk how silly* at the people who were hoarding toilet paper in the beginning of all this now owe them a huge apology, that's for sure. I still wonder 'how did they know?'

[deleted the rest of this if you saw it. Might reappear at DT]

Quote: odiousgambit

All of us who went *tsk tsk how silly* at the people who were hoarding toilet paper in the beginning of all this now owe them a huge apology, that's for sure. I still wonder 'how did they know?'

[deleted the rest of this if you saw it. Might reappear at DT]

I've been stocking extra for years. I have been stocking food for years. Everyone should start copy-canning at the least. The most basic prep.

I like how the Mormons keep 1 year (or is it 2?) of supplies on hand. When this thing broke 260 days ago I hit the store to buy just a couple fill-in items, but I could have easily survived had they closed the stores instantly not the several day wind down we had.

Now my stocks are down but I could still last 1-2 weeks. I keep meandering between emptying to get fresh and staying stocked because it is not over and some power somewhere decides to close things again.

Meanwhile all the directionals in the grocery store are gone and people shop as before. So glad that grocery shopping is near normal. In April it felt as if I was on some pass for house arrest or "my turn" under an occupation by a foreign army. I was in and out faster than ever before in life, and always very early on a Saturday.

Quote: AZDuffman

Meanwhile all the directionals in the grocery store are gone and people shop as before. So glad that grocery shopping is near normal. In April it felt as if I was on some pass for house arrest or "my turn" under an occupation by a foreign army. I was in and out faster than ever before in life, and always very early on a Saturday.

All of the grocery stores that I go to still have the directionals.

As of today, Washington State has increased restrictions. All grocery stores and retail can operate at 25% capacity. Bars are closed, indoor dining at restaurants is closed but delivery and take out OK. All gyms, theaters, museums, etc are closed.

Unclear what 25% capacity for Safeway is, but the store will have only one entrance open.