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.
Just back from Kroger in Greenfield IN.
Only shortages I found were toilet paper and chicken noodle soup!
I got one of those for Christmas. They laughed at me when I shelved it with my emergency supplies. They ain’t laughing now...
Plumbers nationwide are reporting a HUGE! surge in homeowners ordering bidets to be installed.
Trader Joes has that fresh market feel.....with the fresh flowers in season....I don’t shop there much but I consider it a treat when I do...
LOL next there will be a run on flexible shower hose kits at Home Despot and Lowes.
See what legacy Johnny Carson has left us!!
Ok update - my daughter is at the Safeway now and texted “why are there 1,000 people in this store?” What a difference a day make. Guess it was the national emergency announcement.
I’m still looking for...
Here-is-what-fear-of-coronavirus-does-to-the-brain
I’m in suburban Cincinnati and have been fascinated with the whole thing.
Yesterday after schools closed and Governor DeWine sent everyone home for 3 weeks the Kroger nearest to me exploded. Every cart gone, people parking across a major road. Check out lines over an hour, picked clean produce and meat departments.
This morning I went as normal for coffee, produce section rebuilt and stocked, meat shelves being filled in section by section.
I do most of our shopping at Aldi, we did Instacart for our order today because we were not willing to risk standing in line for an hour. Only about half of it arrived. No poultry, turkey or anything fresh.
That required another trip out and I hit 3 stores side by side; another Aldi, Jungle Jim’s (I can’t explain it you either know it or you don’t.) and Wal Mart.
Aldi I was able to get 4 things remaining on my list of 15 things. Jungle Jim’s maybe another 4-5. Wal Mart though? Other than bread, some OTC stuff and (I feel like I’m in a 3rd wold country saying this.) toilet paper I found everything remaining.
They had constant in store announcements about arriving inventory which blew my mind. I’m so used to going to Wal Mart in the middle of the night (I grocery shop lovernights on weekends if I can’t sleep which the woman in my life loves when she doesn’t have to do it.) and seeing an army of people filling aisles with pallets and making the store look like a catalog of capitalism. Never during the day because it was necessary. They were doing it though.
All in all over the last two days and having to go to multiple stores I got everything and no one was mad, bitter, angry, employees were laughing about things. I didn’t hear one cross word from anyone.
I think the reason folks are hitting the stores is because they afraid the truckdrivers will get a 2-3 week vaca… (uh QUARENTINE) and NOTHING will appear on store shelves!
The Wuhan Red China Flu Virus is a respiratory infection, not a GI infection, so the runs aren’t an issue, some TP is a good idea, but not up there with other items. Unless there’s only 2 rolls left in the cupboard.
My extensive preps’ shelves has 25 20-paks of Scott TP, from 5-6yrs ago.
|
Stay AWAY!!!
CoronaVirus
QUARANTINE
in force
|
I don’t think folks are smart enough to think the truckers would be going on vacation.
Hell, the general public is so stupid when it comes to food showing up that some don’t think the meat on the shelves once walked.
Truckers and stockers are doing God’s work.
God bless them all!
Meijers thrifty acres was a zoo earlier today. It’s a respiratory illness, Right? Then why the hell is all the toilet paper gone? Mental disconnect there. Also, the bread, milk and eggs were perilously low. I guess Dixie snowstorms aren’t the only thing which inspires an unquenchable desire for French toast. People are lemmings.
CC
Our Ralph’s (Kroger affiliate in So Cal) is mobbed and picked over. The meat dept guy said they sold 3x normal yesterday. Food is arriving just like always, with larger deliveries. People are just stocking up. A tip: at our store the meat is stocked at night, so go late if you want meat. The produce is stocked very early, so go first thing in the morning for that.
Ha !
That gave me that tilted head dog look .. thought I was havin' a senior moment ;-)
“If you’re gonna shoot, shoot-don’t talk.”
-The Good,The Bad And the Ugly.
We were in a Home Depot last week and they had everything and the TP was EXTORTIONATELY over priced.
I found tons of chicken at the local Mennonite store.
They had lots of everything.
Interesting! As a little girl I read them at the library because my mom said he was a commie. I’m sure he was but how I loved him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.