How long before stores are restocked for good?

[rennigade]

My wife and I were making a sams club list yesterday. I plan on going sometime this week and stocking up so we wont have to step foot back in there for a while. During the list making, we found ourselves blurting out "if its in stock." I asked her how long it will be until you can walk into any store anywhere, and the item you want will be in stock? Things that were never an issue before like flour, canned good, bread, etc etc, not to mention clorox anything and paper goods. I said probably not until the end of summer.

[disneysteve]

I now call our shopping list our "wish list" instead.

[Fishindude77]

At least this issue has been good for the grocery store business.
We have a friend that owns a small local IGA grocery / meat market & produce market / deli / flower and garden center. Their business has been going gangbusters at a time of year when they would normally be slow. They typically don't get going strong until the outdoor and garden plants are selling in a month or so, they've been very thankful for the boost in business and have been working their butts off.

[bjl584]

Supply chains are a mess from source to ports to transport to delivery.

Even after this ends and things reopen I'd look for supply chain disruptions for at least another month beyond post-coronavirus.

[disneysteve]

Some of it is supply chain disruptions but much of it is actually due to sudden seismic shifts in buying habits. Most grocery items are shipped very frequently to stores and very little stock is kept on hand, especially for perishables. They'll get shipments daily. You never notice because it happens quite seamlessly - until something like this hits.

Now a couple of things are occurring. One is people hoarding. That's largely why stuff like toilet paper and cleaning supplies are hard to come by. Two is that the problem is nationwide. When there's a local issue, like a hurricane, suppliers can shift stock to the affected area temporarily but now the affected area is the whole country. Three people's usage has changed because they are sheltering at home. I hadn't really thought about it until I was talking to a friend. He's got 3 kids so there are now 5 people at home 24/7. Yes, they are going through a lot more toilet paper than usual which has changed their buying needs. Normally he is at work and the kids are at school all day. Also people are shopping less often but buying more at once which is affecting stock.

So the hoarding has been dying down already. The other issues will gradually ease up once people's routines get back to normal.

[moneybags]

I think it will be a problem for months to come. Food manufacturers can't keep up with the current demand for many products. The world's largest pork processor just shut down because too many employeess have Covid-19. This is going to cause a meat shortage down the road. This is only one example.

[disneysteve]

I think it will be a problem for months to come. Food manufacturers can't keep up with the current demand for many products. The world's largest pork processor just shut down because too many employeess have Covid-19. This is going to cause a meat shortage down the road. This is only one example.

Smithfield shut down one plant that produces about 4% of the nation's pork supply. That alone wouldn't be a huge deal but there are other places doing the same and either closing entirely or running shorthanded due to staff outages for COVID.

[rennigade]

Also people are shopping less often but buying more at once which is affecting stock.

We certainly fit this scenario. We've been going to the store about once every 2.5 - 3 weeks. Our cart is fairly full, and the bill is almost 3x as much as normal (normal being once a week grocery shopping.) I have to say though, I like stocking up and going to the grocery store less. Most produce with the exception of bananas last a long time so no need for us to go weekly anymore.

[disneysteve]

We certainly fit this scenario. We've been going to the store about once every 2.5 - 3 weeks. Our cart is fairly full, and the bill is almost 3x as much as normal

And that's exactly part of the problem. When you're dealing with a business that normally gets enough stuff delivered each day for that day's sales and suddenly people are coming in and buying 3 times as much as normal, suddenly the shelves are empty.

[Smallsteps]

i had good success visiting a retail place that mostly supplies restaurants .... ours is called Cash & Carry.
Since many small restaurants are not using what they usually do i found many items just in a more industrial sizes.

[Scallywag]

In California, it's predicted that fruits & veggies would likely soon die on the plant because there's no one to pick them! Really terrible!

[disneysteve]

In California, it's predicted that fruits & veggies would likely soon die on the plant because there's no one to pick them! Really terrible!

A lot of crops, literally tons of produce, are being destroyed because there’s simply nowhere to sell it. It typically goes to restaurants but that business is gone.

[bjl584]

A lot of crops, literally tons of produce, are being destroyed because there’s simply nowhere to sell it. It typically goes to restaurants but that business is gone.

Dairy farmers are dumping milk down the drain.
No schools open is causing a glut in milk

[disneysteve]

Dairy farmers are dumping milk down the drain.
No schools open is causing a glut in milk

Yep. That too. The normal customers for their products simply aren't there so there's nowhere to sell what they produce.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

i'd like to go in and get everything.I haven't gone in about 3 weeks from costco. I am due soon for another shopping day run.