Coronavirus Impact: Local Stores Report Empty Shelves
The COVID-19 pandemic has some residents in the northwest suburbs preparing for possible quarantine situations. At Costco in Maple Grove, a store employee who didn’t wish to be identified, told CCX News that Friday was the store’s second busiest day in recent months behind only Dec. 23.
“It is bananas in there,” said Denise Fadina of Brooklyn Center. “Everyone is grabbing carts, grabbing toilet paper, grabbing everything off the shelves.”
It was a parade of shopping carts in the Costco parking lot as people stocked up on basic supplies.
“It was ridiculous,” another customer told CCX News. “It was so busy. Everybody’s got toilet paper.”
“Toilet paper’s one per person,” Fadina said. “One per customer. That’s all you can get.”
“There was a little bit of a traffic jam at times.” said Gabby Fadina of Brooklyn Center. “But mostly everyone was nice.”
COVID-19 Puts Toilet Paper in Demand
At Almsted’s grocery store in Crystal, anyone searching for toilet paper on this Friday the 13th was out of luck.
“It’s been difficult to get it,” said store owner Jim Almsted. “People have been buying it in panic mode.”
The shelves were empty. The store ran out quickly.
“I’m pretty confident I’ve got more bath tissue coming tomorrow,” Almsted said. “There are certain things like hand sanitizers. Could be a few weeks.”
Another popular item is bottled water. Almsted has been in the grocery business for five decades and has never seen anything quite like this.
“There’s a lot more panic and a lot more concern,” Almsted said. “There’s a lot more unknowns. It’s not like when a snowstorm comes and people know it’s coming and they know how to deal with it.”
For more coronavirus stories, click here.
