Posted on 03/13/2020 1:49:13 PM PDT by Kaslin
Fancy grocery stores like Trader Joe's in affluent neighborhoods have lines out the door, regular stores, not so much.
Different types of people handle situations differently, especially when it comes to stuff like a pandemic of a deadly Wuhan virus. But in New York City and elsewhere, an interesting pattern is emerging in regard to fancy chain grocery stores like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods which have been picked over like a carcass and still have long lines. Meanwhile, regular neighborhood chain stores have a few shortages, but are operating pretty normally.
The evidence is anecdotal, but it’s reflected on social media as well. I went to my local grocery this morning and there were a few people hoarding, but it wasn’t packed, it was well stocked, and seemed to be humming along.
COVID-19 has officially hit NYC.
There’s not a single piece of food left at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. pic.twitter.com/L5mF15LmRs
— Yano (@JasonYanowitz) March 12, 2020
Over at Trader Joe’s, multiple news reports have made the popular millennial hot spot sound like a post apocalyptic hellscape.
Here is video of the line inside one Manhattan location.
There is probably more than one reason that these differences are occurring, but it seems highly likely that the dispositions and incomes of the two sets of customers are playing a role in the run on Trader Joe’s and the slow steady traffic of old school grocers. The former are almost all in affluent sections of the city, the latter more often in middle and lower middle class neighborhoods.
But it’s not just in New York City.
This pattern is also happening in DC. Costco and big-box stores much worse than neighborhood grocers. https://t.co/mq9XzZaUfm
— Inez Stepman (@InezFeltscher) March 13, 2020
Whole Foods, Los Angeles. 8:00pm Thursday, March 12. pic.twitter.com/fpVJb4yHK3
— Arezou Rezvani (@ArezouRezvani) March 13, 2020
In the industrial part of Houston supermarkets are stocked with light traffic. In the expensive parts of town the whole foods are packed. It doesn't pay to be extremely online.
— Chris Raab (@ChrisRaab3) March 13, 2020
Welp.
This is what the Trader Joe’s on 14th street in DC looks like this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/31BDKERnEn
— Peter Suderman (@petersuderman) March 13, 2020
The scene this afternoon from the Trader Joe’s in Cambridge. pic.twitter.com/wysIrl8Ujz
— Jonathan Yuan (@jyuanathan) March 13, 2020
There is something to be said for the fact that more affluent people may be paying closer attention to the virus, but before we get to that, there are a few practical reasons this could be happening.
The first is income. New Yorkers who aren’t wealthy are not known for being swimming in savings. For many, the idea of dropping $500 right now for a stockpile would interfere with tight budgets. Another factor is space, people in small apartments don’t have storage for 27 twelve packs of toilet paper. And small apartments mean small fridges and freezers compared to those in new luxury buildings.
But it’s not completely off base to point to some psychological differences as well. For one thing, white collar professionals are far more likely to have jobs that allow them to stay tuned in constantly to the updates that cause anxiety and panic buying. The wage-worker, who isn’t on a device all day, is watching a severe pandemic occur, but not in a constant cascade of panic. The affluent in these areas also tend to be more progressive than middle class New Yorkers, and the progressive media has leaned very hard into the worst possible outcomes, whether for political reasons or not.
Whatever the reasons for the disparity, there seems to be two different realities playing out in the city regarding the Wuhan virus. Everyone might be taking precautions, but in different ways across socio-economic lines.
In the working class neighborhoods rules and advice from officials are being followed, but not exceeded to the point of baring the the shelves of the stores. Ultimately, this is probably a much more responsible approach, as local stores will have better control of their supply lines.
It’s a tale of two cities, one experiences a bit of a panic-driven freak out and another takes a more measured approach. I find myself in the latter camp, and I could be wrong, but at least I won’t be spending two hours on line at Whole Foods.
OK. Good. Never threaten, just do it!)
Nah, it's just the ignorant mob mentality.......Folks buying toilet paper in bulk then I'd better do the same ..............Sheesh!
ROFLOL!
And they got after me last night after I mentioned that the Finlanders up in the UP of Michigan get into the sauna the first sign of a virus.
I used to also, and it works.
Suffolk Va foodlion...absolutely insane. My son decided he wanted some cookies, walked in and every register open and lines to back of store for EVERY LINE.
My mom Pittsburgh Giant Eagle. she has never seen a store so completely packed and lines to back of store’
Both went after his press conference.
Made me feel pretty good that I had everything I needed :)
Things are starting to disappear at my local Kroger. No eggs, especially.
LOL, or a sign that says, "Feel the Bern!"
Lowe’s Home Improvement store had plenty of tp and paper towels earlier this week. If you can hold off a couple of days, you might want to try to early next week.
Hannaford’s is pretty un-fancy and people are going bonkers for TP. I guess the threat of a virus makes you poop more.
go early...lot of reports of Kroger being cleared out as if you were expecting 2 feet of snow
Vegetables ..canned and frozen
Meat
Diary
Pizza
Eggs
Tyson frozen chicken nugget type stuff
Paper PRoducts
and on and on and on
but you will probably have no problem finding Vegan stuff
I posted a video of Costco Freezer in Madison completely wiped clean in most of the sections. I saw a lone box of some kind of Cordon Bleu chicken item and something that looked like a hot dog
This guy is a moron. Trader Joe’s is not a fancy place, nor are they [and never have been] in high rent neighborhoods.
Today, both Von’s and TJ’s were jammed.
My Von’s [owned by Safeway] was a madhouse!
Okay, now that picture is funny.
How is Trader Joe’s a “fancy place”? I’ve shopped there since it was founded ... it’s just a normal place. And it sells low priced knock offs of higher priced labels. it is my go-to market.
After hearing from two separate friends reporting that lines to get in to Costco (separate locations) were wrapping around the buildings, I went to my local Albertson’s to get something for dinner. The place was mobbed. Absolutely ridiculous. The checker told me there was at least 30 people in line waiting for the store to open. People were grabbing meat as fast as they put it out, there were no potatoes left, and the water isle was a disaster. The store hasn’t had isopropyl alcohol or toilet paper for at least a week, they said they can’t get it.
How is the media conduct in this situation not criminal? They are effectively yelling fire in a crowded theater.
have no idea what he coud have been doing unless it was trying to figure out the end date of the sale or something
or maybe he was having a Schumer moment and thought there was TP there
Trader Joe’s seems to be a store that’s very popular with the young affluent left-leaning crowd in the Philadelphia suburbs. I always perceived it as the Starbucks of grocery stores. Not as lefty as Whole Foods of course...that one’s for the Green Party crowd.
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