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Monday, February 07, 2022

Two Years Into Pandemic, Shoppers Are Still Hoarding

Alexis Abell recently walked out of a BJ’s Wholesale Club outside Buffalo, N.Y., with 24 boxes of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, a box of 50 frozen mozzarella sticks, a 40-pound bag of basmati rice and a 12-can pack of garbanzo beans. 

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I wouldn't say that I hoard, but I established a baseline of goods (not foodstuffs) above and beyond my normal preps to keep in the house in case of shortages. I'm talking toothpaste, detergents, paper products, shit like that, and it's at least twice of what I'd normally keep. When I empty whatever I'm using, I get the spare out of the pantry and put it on my grocery list.
And the way grocery shelves are these days, sometimes stocked and sometimes not, if I see something in the store that I even think we'll need in the near future, I'll toss it in my cart. 
Sometimes I get forgetful. The other day I picked up a 10 pack of Ivory soap just because they had it, then when I got home I tossed those in the bathroom cabinet along with the other 40 or 50 bars of soap already there. Hey, the world might end next month but by God, I'm not going to stink when I die.

36 comments:

  1. Better to be stocked up on stuff. For things with a short shelf life, research alternatives.

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  2. Same shopping habits that I have...... ;0)

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  3. I just bought another deep freeze to stock up on meat while it's still "cheap". Shortages are gonna be worse this year. Get it when you can.

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  4. Fake news. I didn't read past the paywall, but didn't need to.

    The article started with "BJ's Wholesale Club," meaning large sized packages. So that 1 bag of rice, 1 box of garbanzo beans, 1 box of of cheese sticks, and 1 or 2 boxes of Macaroni & Cheese. For a family of 7, they will go through this much in a couple weeks even if she weren't stocking up.

    Geek

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  5. We do the same thing here. I knew when the first case of Wuhan hit US shores it would be panic mode for the sheep so we padded some reserves months in advance. Now with Kellog's workers striking, crane operators being MIA, Cali ragging on trucks, spotty shelves, etc, we typically get 2-3X what we might need.

    I pretty much live on pasta and people have been cleaning that out. If there are only a few boxes left (like 3-5), then I'll grab one and leave the others.

    Mostly stocking up on rice, beans, flour, powdered and canned milk, soaps, trash bags, etc. Hopefully I can get the 2.5 acre livestock pen up and running before next year. I want 4-5 deer so I have my own meat all the time but literature says ONE needs 14 acres to graze on without over grazing so I have no idea how I'll feed them, even with seeding the land. I don't want to be dependent on importing feed or having to work a field just to feed them. Stocked up on bar oil and chains too; plan to get the little MS251C repaired as well as a backup.

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  6. The only difference between "Hoarding" and "Prepping" is in the mindset of the preppers and the Govt. One believes in being prepared, the other believes in taking your stuff because you were prepared.

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  7. When we go to Costco we buy in bulk. Isn't that what Costco's all about? Try to go there and buy one bar of soap. 1 box of Kraft Mac and Cheese. You can't do it. If someone wants to buy 24 box's of Mac and Cheese or a 40lb bag of rice, so what! I don't understand what the big deal is about. I have a huge pantry filled with all kinds of food and non foodstuffs. Do I consider myself a hoarder? Not at all. Am I prepared if something happens? Maybe better than the average person. Do I have 50, 12 packs of toilet paper? No. What's the difference? When does someone become a hoarder?

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    1. When it piles up on the floor. Shelf space, you are prepared. Piled every place else, you are a hoarder.

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    2. "And the way grocery shelves are these days, sometimes stocked and sometimes not, if I see something in the store that I even think we'll need in the near future, I'll toss it in my cart. "
      Not to mention the certain knowledge that the price will be higher next time its in stock.

      CC

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  8. Have you tried to buy cat food recently? I’ve stared making my own cat food because the prescription food for my diabetic cat has been unavailable for 3 months

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  9. Amen to that. Reminds me i am down to my last few bars. Better get that on the list.

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  10. Can you actually buy smaller sizes than that at CostCo? I thought their entire business model was selling stuff by the case?

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    Replies
    1. I don't shop Costco. The nearest one is 40 miles away.

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  11. This was likely written by someone who shops on a daily basis to pickup 'dinner'. There are others, others, that grew up with a room sized pantry. It held not only what you grew or harvested and preserved, but also items which were cheap when in season and expensive or not available when not in season. The writer is the type that has freezer mounted on their fridge... not a dedicated freezer big enough to hold half a cow, a whole hog and still have enough room to fit a couple bodies... err, I mean bottles of ice for the cooler, if needed.

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    1. Funny stuff there! I purchased a used Farm & Freeze built in the 50's like the Caddilac with the fins. This prick weighed so much (it took 3 people to move it with the doors off). Paid $10 for it. I got a call from someone who wanted to buy it from the advertisement. They said they would give me $200. I had to use a gantry to get it off the trailer. My body was sore for weeks. I said to my ex-wife, I could store 6 bodies in that thing with room to spare. I use it to store malted barley.

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  12. Sometimes some things you think are non-perishable can go bad Years ago after working some coupons I got 10 or 12 clear roll-on deodorants on the cheap and I stuffed them all in the bathroom cabinet I had at the time The thing I forgot was that Junior liked to take half hour 180° showers and all those deodorants turned a browner shade of pale❗️

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  13. Here is the ATL suburbs, this past weekend I went to Wal-Mart, Sam's, and 2 different Kroger grocery stores to buy chicken breast filets. All were sold out, and Sam's was also sold out of frozen chicken filets.

    This in a state that has, by my rough estimate, 12,000,000 chicken farms.

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    Replies
    1. There is a shortage of poultry processing. Obama changed the law allowing the importing of foreign processed poultry so China bought a bunch of the processors, shut them down here and processes them over there.

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    2. Elimination of 'Country of Origin' labeling is the biggest rape of American ag producers in history. It's one reason beef prices have gone through the roof, while U.S. cattle ranchers are getting 1990s prices for their market beef. And consumers have absolutely no idea which third world shithole their food is coming from.

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    3. Dead on Elmo....... Another reason is the pied piper NCBA and their minion state associations----- Cow/calf producer interests controlled by the packers. Big belt buckles and small IQ.

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  14. Its fucking BJs. Thats how shit is sold.

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  15. So Canada goes full stasi, truckers get pissed, stop playing, and just start using 20 trucks to block both direction on random stretches of interstate, bridges mainly, construction areas, and natural bottle necks. Just walk off, walk up into the woods and shoot anyone who touches the truck.
    Steve in KY

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  16. It's better to have than have not. Ohio Guy

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  17. same here bro, we don't buy more than we need now but we replace and rotate what we have used.
    stack it deep guys, it's not going to get any better. good luck!

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  18. Its not hoarding if those are the sizes they come in. 1 box. 1 bag. One case. One can. Journalists these days...

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  19. I keep a 3 month supply on hand. I am planning a move in 4 months and I will start living off my overstock in 4 weeks to run everything down so I do not have to move it.

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  20. Sam's has 50lb bags of white rice for $18.88. Huge ass deal.

    And it's not hording if you totally hate going to the store and you only go once a month.

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  21. My prepping has NOTHING to do with covid. It has to do with when TSHTF... could happen any time.

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  22. All you guys with heavy meat stocked freezers......

    must have a couple of generators.....

    and can smoke that meat if need be.....right....????

    Ed357

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  23. At the grocery store yesterday, they had a pallet of 50lb bags of Basmati rice in the space where they have pantry staples on sale. Never seen that before in that store.

    Nemo

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  24. We're not preppers. My wife buys stuff on sale. Paper products, stuff you use a lot. Before any of the panic buying even started we had a storeroom full of all that stuff.

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  25. Eugene, Oregon.
    We keep five-gallon twenty-pound propane bottles as back-up for our generators for the chillers on the farm.
    We probably have close to fifty.
    .
    Last week, I 'acquired' a couple more rusting no-label junker propane bottles from the goofballs around us in their warehouse-pallet hovels.
    I usually exchange these for fresh filled certified bottles.
    Last week, four places were out of filled bottles... and out of propane to re-fill used bottles.
    .
    Last week, none of the exchange cages had filled bottles.
    The cages were loaded with empties.
    I finally found some fresh filled re-certs in a no-access closed 'garden' area of a Fred Meyer grocery store... dated in the mid-2015 era.
    .
    First, near-us$5 diesel, but sometimes they are out.
    Now, no propane.
    Inflation can be zero, but I need something to buy with my new-bucks.

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  26. We're not hoarding anything except cat food and litter. If the supply chain issues get worse, manufacture/transport of pet supplies will fairly obviously be lower priority than supplies for humans.

    [rocketride]

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