Product shortages in your area ?

[ERObjd]

With the shipping backlogs and container ships waiting for weeks in ports shortages of some products are going to happen.

So far her in LIncoln Ne it does not seemed to have hit real hard yet at least not as bad as last year. So far there seems to be plenty of TP, paper towels and canned items soups,meat etc with no signs on limits at least at the groceries we use Hy VEE and Super Save. dont know about Wall mart as we rarely go there. Maybe it's because people stocked up months earlier and stocked the pantry well and are not hoarding. I talked to a neighbor who has a Costco membership and she said they do have limits on TP AND kleenex, but that was all that had limits so far as she saw.

Only thing wife and I have noticed is meat at grocery stores is considerably higher. we dont buy a whole lot of meat since we have a large freezer and I go on pheasant and duck hunts every year and stock the freezer and some yeras I go deer hunting and we have the deer meat processed. Also fish in the summer for bass, wiper and walleye (dont usually freeze fish we prepare those as meals the same day or 2) usually. I would say about 80% of the meat we consume is from wild gam so we dont buy meats at grocery very often. Of course hunting is not free either as travel and ammo are not free. Fishing is cheaper than hunting unless one owns a boat) I dont I fish from shore) there are numerous fine fishing
lakes within 10-20 miles of my home. I am only a fair weather
fisherman..ice fishing is not my thing. One thing there is a shortage of is computer parts..our tower pc needed repair and the hard drive failed. so local computer shop had to order a new hard drive ,that was yesterday and the expected wait for that part is 3-6 weeks due to the supply of computer parts being tight due to shipping delays. Ammo has been tight for about 2 years now and has went up in price considerably. I still have a decent stock of ammo for our shotguns ,rifles and our conceal carry pistols.

with all the container ships backing up at major harbors and ports LA , NY Savannah etc it appears backlogs and shortages will be hitting everywhere eventually and impact many products. Main shortage i notice here is computer parts and ammo.. so far plenty of TP .

 

[Gumby]

There has indeed been a sharp price rise recently for meat. My favorite grocery is selling tenderloin for about 30% more than it was last year. But I'm not sure why. Since the vast majority of meat is raised and processed in this country, I would not expect the price rise to be the result of shipping backlogs at our ports.

 

[njhowie]

Meat has been expensive here for the past few years. We only buy when there are sales, and likewise have a standalone freezer so we can stock up then.

As far as shortages, in both of the chain supermarkets in our neighborhood, certain items in the freezer section have empty shelves. I don't remember off-hand what they are, but when walking by it stands out.

We have a good size pantry and indoor crawl space, and keep plenty of non-perishables and paper products so are never really concerned if there happen to be shortages of those items.

 

[yhoomajor]

McDonalds near me has been running out of Coffee cups every week. Been going on for few months now. It seems bean counters at top might be limiting purchases now thinking prices will come down a month or two later. But that's not been happening.

In general.. most things are still available, but at much higher price.

 

[athena53]

My local Costco is limiting TP purchases to one pack per customer but that's 30-roll packs. There were plenty when I went there.

I've heard complaints that the price of meat is skyrocketing but I rarely buy it.

 

[aaronc879]

I have not seen any shortages of products in my area. I have seen a lot of excessive price increases blamed on shortages but I think it's just price gouging by greedy corporations.

 

[MRG]

We are experiencing a shortage of workers.

My cell died a couple months ago. I went to Verizon and a young lady helped me. During the transaction I learned she was on her third straight shift without food, sleep... she was supposed to leave that job and have a fourth shift.

 

[Sunset]

There has indeed been a sharp price rise recently for meat. My favorite grocery is selling tenderloin for about 30% more than it was last year. But I'm not sure why. Since the vast majority of meat is raised and processed in this country, I would not expect the price rise to be the result of shipping backlogs at our ports.

The ports are backlogged partially for the same reason your local USA goods cost more. Lack of truck drivers to ship the stuff.

I've noticed the shelves are more sparse in various places, and even sales have decreased in the discount offered. Things have gotten tighter in general but no outright absence of goods.

I pointed out to DW a Walmart the number of empty spaces on various shelves.

 

[djsander]

Not much missing on the shelves here. It’s probably more a shortage of non grocery type items. A large portion of food is produced in the US with some imports from Canada and Mexico. I think the truck driver shortage is only partial to the problem. One article says the port workers are slow moving and all take long lunch breaks at the same time. As usual the answer is more complex than the media is portraying. My $2 worth (inflation).

 

[easysurfer]

I've been mulling over do I spring for another box of TP or not?

Do notice a big price increase in meats. Just a pack of 4 chicken leg quarters at a local grocery store is about $7.50.

 

[frayne]

I have to chuckle with all the news programs talking about shortages and supply chain problems but on the other hand, you better rush out right now and buy all those Christmas gifts before it's too late. So far I haven't noticed any shortages with the exception of common sense.

 

[Car-Guy]

There's no shortage of paper products "at my house"... Not after last years panic buying...

So far, I've seen a few (very few) spot shortages of a few food products but it's not been widespread nor long lasting.... One thing is consistent, prices are much higher on just about everything. Amazing what can happen in such a short time!

 

[ivinsfan]

My local Costco is limiting TP purchases to one pack per customer but that's 30-roll packs. There were plenty when I went there.

I've heard complaints that the price of meat is skyrocketing but I rarely buy it.

Same at Sam's club on the TP, but that triggers an interesting study in human behavior...every single cart I saw had a jumbo pack of TP inside it.

 

[Calico]

Weird random shortages

My last four grocery orders had the following random items out of stock (all four times):

Butter lettuce
Broccolini
4-gal trash bags

I bought a different kind of lettuce. I gave up on the broccolini for the time being. I ordered the trash bags from Amazon for a slightly higher price than in-store.

I don't eat meat so those prices don't impact me.

I have no idea if paper products (toilet paper and paper towels) are in short supply, because I order them from Amazon now and never let my supply get below several months' worth of each. I don't intend to have a repeat of 2020 in that regard.

 

[braumeister]

every single cart I saw had a jumbo pack of TP inside it.

Didn't they just have a BOGO sale on laxatives last week?

 

[FIREd]

No shortages of any kind here (near Geneva, Switzerland), except for Rolex watches I hear

 

[Amethyst]

Fresh produce has been low in stock, and higher than usual in price, at the Sam's and Walmart where we shop. I haven't been able to get McIntosh apples (my favorite, and I don't mean the electronic ones), which are early ripeners, cheap and widely available.

EDIT: Just paid $1.20 apiece for 4 Bosc pears at Walmart. Pears are in season.

Around here, local businesses are blaming a trucker shortage (being far down the peninsula, our dependence on trucking is high).

 

[jazz4cash]

McDonalds near me has been running out of Coffee cups every week. Been going on for few months now. It seems bean counters at top might be limiting purchases now thinking prices will come down a month or two later. But that's not been happening.

In general.. most things are still available, but at much higher price.

So what do they do.....stop selling coffee? I always wondered why a manager wouldn't go to the local costco and get a backup supply of staple items, especially when it's an item that restricts sales. Maybe that is against the franchise rules but I would not want to annoy the coffee drinkers.

 

[MRG]

McDonalds near me has been running out of Coffee cups every week. Been going on for few months now. It seems bean counters at top might be limiting purchases now thinking prices will come down a month or two later. But that's not been happening.

In general.. most things are still available, but at much higher price.

Ours too. A massive shortage of medium coffee cups.

 

[yhoomajor]

So what do they do.....stop selling coffee? I always wondered why a manager wouldn't go to the local costco and get a backup supply of staple items, especially when it's an item that restricts sales. Maybe that is against the franchise rules but I would not want to annoy the coffee drinkers.

McDonalds coffee (actually quite good) pricing is $1.0 (whether you want large size, medium or small). Most often they have been running out of large cups. So they ask us whether you want medium. Which is still a good deal for $1.0. In the early phase of these cup shortages, our local McD store was doling out hot coffee in cold cups (ones meant for cold smoothies). Someone may have complained

Back to the topic. McD doesn't make money by selling good quality coffee for $1.0. But this is a hook to get regular customers keep coming in who then buy additional stuff (like egg sandwich and those prices are really 30-40% higher than last year).

 

[JT90505]

Paper products at costco, no shortages until they announced quantity limits. At which point TP and paper towels were cleaned out (two weeks ago).

The other item that has been out of stock periodically is plastic bags for produce. Three or four times over the last couple of months.

 

[Walt34]

We've been noticing consistent shortages of all paper products - kleenex, paper towels, TP, to the extent that "standing orders" from DW are to buy a large package of either TP or paper towels whenever I see one.

Over on the R/C forums, a consistent topic of complaint/discussion is the shortages of pretty much everything, leading me to conclude that the advice to buy your holidays gifts (and turkeys) early is not misplaced.

And two days ago I read an article about Home Depot now chartering ships and thus increasing their shipping costs by 2x to 3x, and indicating that now even the kitchen sink is on backorder.

 

[Chuckanut]

The local Kroger affiliate has the TP aisle about 2/3 empty last week, but there was no obvious rush. Meat prices are up considerably, several dollars a pound for grass fed beef, etc. Housing prices have stopped their blazing rise, but anything under One Million in my area still goes fast if it's in descent shape, maybe within a week or two now rather than a few days as it was a few months ago.

Interestingly, several of my neighbors who still have to work for a living are complaining that raises are still in the area of 1-2% if they get one. Given what I have heard about labor shortages I would have thought raises would be higher. Most of these people seem to work for smaller companies in what I will call semi-skilled jobs that require training and experience but not a college degree or high-tech certification. Note: plumbers, electricians and other people who can build and fix things excepted. They may be doing better than a lot of college graduates.

This recent inflation is hitting the poor and low-income people hardest. What else is new?

 

[Chuckanut]

Costco, Walmart and others are now doing just that - arranging shipping for their orders. What happens when they hit a port that has ships backed up to Honolulu, I don't know. Divert to Oxnard or Coos Bay? Perhaps off load in Mexico and trucked over the border? The Northwest passage seems to be opening up, maybe they can be offloaded in Nunavut and the goods dog sledded to Edmonton? Or packed in sealed containers and shoved into a pipeline?

 

[easysurfer]

If I was to use up all my stock of TP, probably have about a 3 month supply.

This product shortages thing of late is starting to make me nervous .