6 days ago, Michigan announced its first #COVID19 cases. The situation for residents has evolved rapidly. I’ll be blogging about what I see, and experience. But not about what I hear from others. I retweet with the best on them over @snakeladylib, but not here.
I usually take advantage of curbside pickup at Meijer, a major Michigan grocery chain, or a home delivery from Shipt. I had a delivery on Day 2 from a favorite Shipt shopper. I asked her what the store was like. She looked haggard. She never looks haggard. She’s one of those super perky types. She repeated, “There were a lot of people there,” several times.
On Day 6, (today) I woke up at 5:30 and saw this message on the Shipt app. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m monitoring services like grocery delivery. I went through the app to look at possible delivery options. There were three slots available today: 12 hours later, 17 hours later, and 18 hours later. That is very rare. Delivery is almost always available within two hours.
Hubby and I made the decision to venture out to Meijer at 7:30 and survey the situation for ourselves. We reasoned that it would be less crowded. We also needed to pick up two scripts at the pharmacy.
I got on text with my Plague Buddies. We talk to each other when we shop, among other times, and let each other know when we need something. It works. This morning, I was asked to be on the lookout for antibacterial wipes, TP, and fresh veggies.
I was worried about jostling, shoving, frightened crowds. No such thing. The store was busy, though, especially for 8 in the morning. The mood was subdued, and almost everyone engaged in social distancing.
Rabbit food 
Potatoes of every kind 
Bananas! 
Full rows of veggies
Produce was well stocked. I saw every staple.
Organic, bulk, specialty: all good
This Meijer location had a full case of chicken in a variety of cuts
Ice cream supplies were spotty for a connoisseur
But there were a variety of flavors at every price point and in every size.
Solely a First World Problem.
Soup was in good shape
It was also in the middle of being restocked
Two for us, two for Plague Buddy A, two for Plague Buddy B.
Sha-ZAAM!
We have a colleague who needed TP. This is what we found.
We came across another First World Problem in canned fruit
They were picked over but there was both variety and sufficient quantities. We’re trying canned mango in a Spanish label!
We got everything on our list.
And supplies for 5 Plague Buddies.
On the downside of our adventures, we had less luck at the pharmacy.
A very common prescription sleep aid was out of stock and unavailable from any source.
Hmmmm, wonder what could be driving that train?
What has your experience with groceries been since #COVID19 where you are?
Leave a comment by scrolling down to the very bottom under “Leave a Reply.” Be sure to tell us where you’re from.
Plum Librarian LLC 
I live in Washington County, Oregon. This is the county that had the first reports of the virus in Oregon, and remains the county with the highest number reported. In Oregon, there has been one death, in the neighboring county (Multnomah which contains Portland). Like most (all?) other states, we have virtually no testing kits and I expect our numbers are horribly under-reported compared to the reality.
Shopping here for my husband, my mom (I buy little extras for her as she’s in assisted living and doesn’t drive), our two cats, and myself has been okay. However, at my nearby stores, we haven’t had toilet paper, hand sanitizer or sanitizing wipes readily available now for nearly 10 days.
On Thursday evening, hubby had no issues buying our normal staples (we’re vegans) of beans, fresh produce, pasta, rice and various frozen entrees and vegan burgers/chik patties. He also got two weeks supply of canned cat food for the cats.
On Saturday morning I ventured to Fred Meyer (now owned by Kroger but previously owned/managed locally) arriving around 8:30a; they open at 6:00a. There was no toilet paper, most baby wipes were gone, and no hand sanitizer or sanitizing wipes. I overheard someone ask an employee about the toilet paper and they were told they “ran out about two hours ago”, which would have been about 30 minutes after they opened.
I focused on additional produce and some snack/binge items. I mentioned to another shopper that things were awfully busy for Sunday at 8:30a. She mentioned that the Winco (a very popular, low-cost grocery store in the neighboring town) was CLOSED (I have no idea why) and so they thought they’d try Fred Meyer.
Here at home, we’re actually good on all three items (hand sanitizer, toilet paper, and sanitizing wipes) due to our very recent delivery of these subscribed items through Amazon.
What I don’t get, there’s no toilet paper anywhere but the shelves are still full of Kleenex tissue… I mean if you’re THAT worried, those would certainly do in a pinch!
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Thanks for sharing your story from Oregon, DCH! I’m really interested in first hand accounts as the globe weathers this storm.
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Well, what a difference 36 hours makes! Headed to the same store this afternoon as I forgot bananas yesterday and needed some more bread. NONE of either to be found.
Some other produce had gone missing in action but I’m not sure it’s all entirely panic-buying related; in some case, there just may be disruptions in transport…
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Finding everything I want except toilet paper. Lots of pet supplies, which makes me wonder. If people think they won’t be able to get toilet paper, what about litter for the cats. Like DCH said, we can use Kleenex. The cats don’t understand Kleenex though. 😉
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Found same about pet supplies, I’m a Chewy customer.
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I work in events and was one of the first in a growing number of industries that has lost work. I along with my wife who is a makeup artist, both freelance. I imagine I’ll be effectively out of work for the next couple months at least. It’s not good to say the least. Shopping here in Michigan City, Indiana is busier than usual but nothing crazy. Gun sales are up and I’m told prices could start raising for guns as well.
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Thanks for sharing this, Simon. To have your entire household out of work practically without notice…. that sucks. Appreciate the note about gun sales.
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So far our only issue was our regular Kroger being entirely out of dairy milk. We have three boys, ages 10, 12 and 14 so even in non plague times we are buying milks of all kinds 2-3 times a week. My husband did find some at another store but were almost cleaned out as well. I have a feeling we will be scavenging for this on a fairly regular basis.
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Greenville, SC-No school, chicken, beef, eggs, tp, rubbing alcohol, or wipes for us. I’m always stocked up. My main concern is for the hourly jobs that will be cut from people who are already living paycheck to paycheck, people’s jobs at risk because they need to stay home with their children, and overstocking things others actually need.
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I hear you, Marne. I’m also concerned about hourly workers. Today in my county, restaurants were asked to cut capacity by 50% to allow for social distancing. People will start being laid off tomorrow.
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I’m in Lansing, MI, and I’m having very little trouble with groceries so far. My problem is cabin fever already. I had 3 concerts in 2 weeks canceled. All the lectures, planetarium shows, Science Month activities I usually attend are canceled, as well as my sporting events on TV. I’m guessing the cinemas will close soon.
I am in total agreement with these decisions, but I live alone and count on social activity very heavily. I will have to work very hard to keep from feeling bored and lonely.
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Thanks, rebecca. I’m worried about cabin fever, too. We need to maintain our social connections in creative ways. I have a friend and he and his partner are both working from home. They’ve decided to work in separate rooms with closed doors but come together for high tea during their afternoon break. Can I meet you for a virtual cucumber sandwich?
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In Traverse City, MI Friday night 5 stores, no TP. Only Costco had Kleenex, but very limited supply. They were restocking paper towel. No meat at all, other than $75 lamb and $30 hams at Costco. Meijer had no hamburger or chicken. Meijer was very empty in general. No potatoes, carrots, bread, bananas, celery, rice, sugar, flour. Can goods were very picked over, no dried beans. Lots of soap available but no sanitizing wipes or spray.
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Thanks for letting us know the situation in Traverse City, Leanne. That’s really tough. I’m hoping that the temporary shortages are due to hoarding, and not supply chain or production problems. The Meijer on Saginaw in Michigan has a recording that says, “We are getting shipments of staples every day.” I’ll hope that’s the case for you shortly!
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Alexandria, Virginia – We went to Wegmans on Friday and it was exceptionally busy and low on a variety of items- onions, potatoes, bread, canned soup, pasta, hummus, fruit was very picked over. Today, we went to Costco and it appears that for the most part they are trying to arrange items to fill in outages. An area that would normally have had chicken was filled with kombucha instead. We are on the hunt for pasta but Costco didn’t have any and they were out of rice, as well.
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Hi Mykala, hopefully living in such a large metropolitan area, you’ll have more options over time. My Neighborhood app hasn’t gotten organized around providing helpful info as available but I plan to start a thread and see if I can get that going here.
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I live in Haslett, Mi. You at least saw Tp on the shelf! Went yesterday and no tp- no eggs-no milk- almost no butter- just like hurricane shopping in Miami!😉
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