Grocery Shopping

[NYEXPAT]

Wow Peru has strict rules. What about unemployment? Are there any protests in Peru? Is the strict lockdown working?

Yes, very strict! 70% of Peruvians work in the informal sector (pay no taxes) So we do not know the unemployment rate, but it is very high as only essential workers have been allowed to go to work since beginning of March. My Wife has not been to work since March 15th but is still collecting her full salary. They just delivered a laptop to our house this morning so she will work at home for the foreseeable future. Nobody knows if the lock down is working ( we think so), If you compare it to other countries our morbidity rate has been constant at 2.8% which is 1/2 the rate of the USA and a quarter of Sweden, but still much Higher than Chile!

My wife works in a hospital and has serious connections with the Ministry of Health. There are no more hospital beds available and it has been this way for several weeks. Lima's population is over 11 Million so it is pretty easy to break the health care system if they are not careful. My district (Miraflores) has a population of about 100,000 and we have 190 Covid cases. I have a cellphone app, that tells me what areas to avoid and we are under Martial Law (8pm-5am) you can not go outside or you will be arrested. There are no protests, but in the poor areas of the country, people do not obey the rules or social distance like they do in the Wealthy areas.

 

[gayl]

Calico--lucky you on the TP. I have a pick up order for Walmart here in Chapel Hill NC for Monday and I just tried to get toilet paper and they have none. Also no paper towels, disinfectant wipes and a slim selection of meats. Seems like there are a lot of us in North Carolina on this Forum. It is a good place to live (but grocery shopping here right now is not so good).

We don't have any shortages here in California that I can see. Even u-pick farms have reopened. Corn prices are up from last year but then again this is the 1st week they're fresh Brentwood corn (Brentwood is 20 miles east and corn is 40c an ear). I'm thinking it'll be more normal in a week or 2.

 

[Dtail]

So that's where they are - in Florida!! I was wondering where they'd all gone.

I have plenty of gloves because I picked up 3 boxes from Amazon in mid-March.

I just checked, and the ones I bought back then say they are available to ship in 1-2 days. If you're interested, I would move fast, because they usually say "currently unavailable" a few minutes or hours after they pop up as available. Good luck!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008N0W9IA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Edited to add: these also appear to be available, but they are twice the price of the first link, for the same number of gloves!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008RFQ7W0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Haha thanks.
I will not keep searching on Amazon, but if I hit it, then fine.

I will though have a deep discussion with Walgreen's as to why their gloves sell out right away when they get them in on Wed.
My point is the truck comes at all hours but they refuse to let me know when, but am not convinced they aren't telling others on a more timely basis.

That is my glove conspiracy and I am sticking with it.

 

[Calico]

Haha thanks.
I will not keep searching on Amazon, but if I hit it, then fine.

I will though have a deep discussion with Walgreen's as to why their gloves sell out right away when they get them in on Wed.
My point is the truck comes at all hours but they refuse to let me know when, but am not convinced they aren't telling others on a more timely basis.

That is my glove conspiracy and I am sticking with it.

The first link now says in stock on Tuesday. The second link is still in stock now.

I can relate - I have a cow#rker who swears she knows exactly what time the truck comes to Walgreens with hand sanitizer, but she will not reveal her source!

 

[timo2]

Regarding gloves, we have been using the nitrile garden gloves for most virus glove needs. They are washable and reusable. [We do have a box of the disposable ones from costco that we originally had for dealing with dogs with worms, but are using those sparingly]. The reuseable, washable garden gloves are available on the web and you don't have to go through amazon for them We just bought our last batch from Duluth Trading, but have not received them yet.

 

[Car-Guy]

Corona surcharge would not work for me.
Heck, I don't even like Corona beer.

Try Corona Light... "To me" it's a totally different/better taste.... Reminds me of Tiger Beer brewed in the Asia/Pacific regions which I can't get here in the US.

 

[tmm99]

Ontario Canada - Evidently, they now have masks, gloves, and Canadian brand hand sanitizer at Costco. I joined a FB group for our local Costco and the people there post how long the line is, what's in stock, etc.

 

[garyt]

More people must be comfortable shopping in store now here in Michigan. I used to only be able to get a week away for a pickup order, maybe 5 days if extremely lucky. Now every time I look I can get next day and there are lots of times available.

 

[gayl]

We don't have any shortages here in California that I can see. Even u-pick farms have reopened. Corn prices are up from last year but then again this is the 1st week they're fresh Brentwood corn (Brentwood is 20 miles east and corn is 40c an ear). I'm thinking it'll be more normal in a week or 2.

Better pricing this week: local corn 6/$1. Cheaper next weekend for Memorial Day. Other produce returning to 2019 prices. So the spike in pricing is off

 

[aboatguy]

COVID shopping today and was able to get everything I was looking for two handles of vodka and bottle of hand soap check... prices.... 19 bucks a handle for sky and dollar something for soap.... (handle = 1.75liter. the cheese eating surrender monkey replacement for half gallon bottles) .

 

[MRG]

Went today for a quick pickup. There's no curbside or shoppers here. Paper is starting to show up routinely, PT, and TP were available without limits. Meats are being controlled, 3 packs per customer on ground beef and only 2 packs of pork. Locals were all wearing masks only 50% of tourists appear to.

 

[travelover]

More people must be comfortable shopping in store now here in Michigan. I used to only be able to get a week away for a pickup order, maybe 5 days if extremely lucky. Now every time I look I can get next day and there are lots of times available.

We are seeing the same thing in Washington.

 

[FreeBear]

Costco was busy as usual. Had a mountain of paper product, including TP and PT. No chicken whatsoever, other meat still available.

Anyone else having trouble finding chicken? A buddy who owns a restaurant says both chicken and beef have doubled in price in the frozen north.

 

[harllee]

Costco was busy as usual. Had a mountain of paper product, including TP and PT. No chicken whatsoever, other meat still available.

Anyone else having trouble finding chicken? A buddy who owns a restaurant says both chicken and beef have doubled in price in the frozen north.

There is a chicken processing plant near us that has been shut down because so many of the employees have Covid-19

 

[Sunset]

I'm about to pick up a Walmart order, my nice hamburger and strip loin steaks are unavailable.
They will substitute 85% froz hamburgers for 80% ones

Beggars can't be choosers

 

[W2R]

It's so encouraging to read these posts! As I posted before, I had very good luck at my local grocery store last Wednesday and they had plenty of everything as far as I could tell, with no purchase limits. OK, I didn't need TP and they only had Charmin, not Northern, but big deal. They had everything else. I bought all the groceries that I needed, and I don't need anything else right now.

I just checked Amazon Prime Pantry, though, since I used to rely upon them for all my non-perishables for the past few years (due to my bum knee, which is now better due to knee replacement surgery last summer, and then due to habit since then).

Amazon still seems to have major problems stocking nearly everything (whereas my local grocery store is fully stocked and apparently has no problems keeping things in stock at all any more). Amazon had less than 17% of my past Prime Pantry purchases in stock, whereas before the pandemic they usually had about 90-95% in stock. I know Amazon had more business than usual lately, but it's been a couple of months by now and I wish they would get it together.

They may find a lot of their Prime Pantry customers vanishing.

 

[Charlotte]

There is a chicken processing plant near us that has been shut down because so many of the employees have Covid-19

Same here (suburb of Charlotte NC). No fresh chicken for the last 2-3 weeks at my grocery store. Some fresh pork, beef, fish, with limits on how much you can purchase.

 

[mpeirce]

Just got back from Kroger north of Columbus.

To my eyes they were fully stocked. I even wandered down the TP isle (not somewhere I usually visit) and there were lots of paper goods. Plenty of meat too. Butcher case was full - I picked up a couple of prime rib-eyes for tonight - and there was a case full of chicken. Ribs where on sale too, though I'm waiting for the rain to stop so I can smoke a pork butt I have for a few days of pulled pork deliciousness.

Also noticed that the bulk foods department has been repurposed. Before it was just empty, now there are other products for sale in that area. Guess people won't be able to buy bulk lentils for a while.

Normal busyness. There were still a noticeable number of "shoppers" picking items for either pickup or delivery.

The workers all had masks - though I noticed the cart pickup guy hiding in the corner with his mask pulled's down reading his phone. Most shoppers had masks on, though not all. Maybe 80%?

 

[bluelight]

Just received my Costco order through Instacart. Shopper told me only meat in store was lamb and ground beef. Frozen Pacific Salmon wasn't available either, had to get Atlantic farmed.

We still have meat from a previous order, and chicken from the grocery store, but the main reason we shop at Costco is the meat. Very disappointing.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I've been doing Walmart curbside for a while now (since mid-March). At first, I had to get on after midnight to grab a slot (as they only went out a couple days). Then they extended the times available to a week, and I usually was able to grab a spot, but only near the end, e.g. +6/7 days out.

This past week, I was able to get a spot +4 days, and today after my pickup, I now see availability for Thursday 5/21 everyday through Monday 5/25. So it looks like at least locally things are easing up, perhaps because more people are going into the store?

 

[Moemg]

I had a insta cart order last week from Publix and I got everything on my list including meat .

 

[Sunset]

I've been doing Walmart curbside for a while now (since mid-March). At first, I had to get on after midnight to grab a slot (as they only went out a couple days). Then they extended the times available to a week, and I usually was able to grab a spot, but only near the end, e.g. +6/7 days out.

This past week, I was able to get a spot +4 days, and today after my pickup, I now see availability for Thursday 5/21 everyday through Monday 5/25. So it looks like at least locally things are easing up, perhaps because more people are going into the store?

Same here in IL , Where are you located ?

 

[brewer12345]

Did pick up at the local Kroger affiliate since I am tired of paying instacart fees and markups. Kind of a mess. Pickup window was 10 to 11. I am pulling into the parking lot at 1015 and they call me to say they are backed up. OK, please call me when it is ready. At 2 I finally call wondering what is going on and apparently they had multiple people basically walk out on them today. I finally get the order and the substitutions make no sense and they stuck me with a chicken that expires tomorrow. I will try pick up again to see if this is a fluke, but I am not impressed.

 

[LOL!]

Things got even easier around here. My son gave me a piece of paper where he had written "Grocery List" at the top. I wrote down items I wanted whenever I thought of them. A day later, he takes a pic of the list, sends it to my wife who is coming home from work and going by the grocery store. The items show up 30 minutes later in our kitchen. Wonderful! We'll just keep a running list on the kitchen counter.

All this is possible because of smart phones and the internet as well as good ol' pencil and paper.

 

[jpeter1093]

Things got even easier around here. My son gave me a piece of paper where he had written "Grocery List" at the top. I wrote down items I wanted whenever I thought of them. A day later, he takes a pic of the list, sends it to my wife who is coming home from work and going by the grocery store. The items show up 30 minutes later in our kitchen. Wonderful! We'll just keep a running list on the kitchen counter.

All this is possible because of smart phones and the internet as well as good ol' pencil and paper.

We use an app called "OurGroceries". It's syncs across phones (everyone just signs into the same 'account'). So, you can update real time while the shopper is in the store. It's free; but if you upgrade to the paid version, you can just scan barcodes into the grocery list.