Sam's Club had lots of TP in stock today!

[Brian Elfert]

I went to Sam's Club earlier today and they had many pallets of TP in stock. In fact, it looked normal like before the great TP shortages of 2020. They had a good six or eight pallets of the big bales of TP and it was hardly touched. They were totally out of regular Kleenex which is what I wanted. I still have a few boxes, but I go through pretty regular if I am sick or not.

I don't understand when I see people posting online even now that they can't find TP anywhere. I go grocery shopping far too often during this pandemic and I usually check the TP aisle at Walmart to see how things are going. For the past two or three weeks Walmart has almost always had TP of some kind on the shelf although most of the time the shelves were less than 20% full. TP mills have been producing only certain brands and sizes of TP right now to maximize production so you may not see your favorite brand or particular package size on the shelf.

[Jim Becker]

I did our weekly food shopping today and the market I've been patronizing had TP on the shelves...not a lot and it was actually in generic packaging. (We buy paper products from Costco and they are also back to normal with that like you saw at Sam's today)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Well, there is some good news to report in all this panic buying.....our local paper mill owned and operated by Clearwater Paper reported a 10 million dollar profit last quarter. They manufacture TP and paper towels.

[Barry McFadden]

I never understood the panic to stockpile toilet paper..... shelves were empty for a while but for the last 3 weeks every store has tons of toilet paper... I think it's a thing where people read something online and believe it. There was never any need to stockpile toilet paper. If someone posted today that there was going to be a shortage of mustard then guess what shelves would be empty tomorrow?

[Doug Garson]

Well, there is some good news to report in all this panic buying.....our local paper mill owned and operated by Clearwater Paper reported a 10 million dollar profit last quarter. They manufacture TP and paper towels.
I predict they will not repeat that next quarter, some (fill in whatever you want to call them) have a years supply in their garage. One can only hope that at the end of the day they do not profit from their greed.

[Brian Elfert]

I wonder if the generic packaging is faster/cheaper to produce? Consumers aren't nearly as picky about what brand of TP right now and just about any TP is selling fast. (I actually hate the thick TP like Charmin and buy a generic two ply TP that is between Charmin and the crappy two ply commercial TP.)

[Doug Garson]

Could be a shortage of packaging materials, I heard Robin Hood Flour ran out of their yellow bags and were shipping their product in generic white bags.

[Rob Luter]

Before all this Corona stuff flared up, Costco had our TP on sale and my bride bough three bales. We're good till football season (if there is one). In my neck of the woods, flour was (and still is) tough to find sometimes. At our house we make all our bread so that's been an potential issue a couple times. I happened to be at the store when they were unloading a pallet last week so I snagged a couple bags. Meat will be the next manufactured shortage. I read that our meat exports are at near record levels but somehow we'll not have enough for domestic distribution. Never let a crisis go to waste.

[Jim Becker]

Packaging has had to adapt as demand for certain products shift. All that TP that isn't going to commercial market is heading to the consumer market, so generic packaging helps speed things up. One manufacturer of disinfectant wipes has seeked permission to distribute their product in soft packaging like baby wipes come in because they can't get the round plastic containers that the wipes are normally packaged in fast enough to satisfy demand. By switching packaging, they can get product out the door.

[George Bokros]

We shopped at our local Walmart last Tuesday morning during senior hour. There was NO toilet paper or paper towels of any kind in the store.

[Brian Elfert]

Surprised to hear that Walmart is out of TP right away in the morning. I have seen TP in stock recently at Walmart even later in the day.

[Ron Selzer]

We shopped at our local Walmart last Tuesday morning during senior hour. There was NO toilet paper or paper towels of any kind in the store.
Local Walmart has had shelves half or more full for the last three weeks everytime (1xweek) I have been there.

[John Makar]

In CO I see weird shortages. Costco never was short TP, but sometimes clorox wipes. Target was completely out of any beef, Costco had full bins. There was never a point when it was impossible to get something, but maybe not from one source. EXCEPT for at Whole Foods, where someone bought the entire 20# bulk bin of cinnamon gummy bears just before lockdown announced. Went to HomeDepot for some thin dimension (1/4) Oak, and they were cleaned out. Lowes 2 miles away had plenty. The main pattern I see is all the local dogs went on a great many walks. Mom sent kids and dog out at noon, came thru again in evenings (sans kids).

[George Bokros]

As an addition to my earlier post my Walmart also was completely out of chicken and all pork except for a few big slabs of ribs.

Got to thinking maybe my Walmart dosen't want the old pepole not to wipe their butts.

[Brian Elfert]

In CO I see weird shortages. Costco never was short TP, but sometimes clorox wipes. Target was completely out of any beef, Costco had full bins. There was never a point when it was impossible to get something, but

You can get Clorox wipes in your area? All we see is empty shelf space where the disinfecting wipes should be here in Minnesota. I would like to get a container or two of wipes for a trip at the end of the month.

Back when the TP hoarding started people were also hoarding disinfecting wipes. People were buying cart loads of wipes before limits started. I saw a lady with at least three of the four packs of the Clorox wipes and may have had more I couldn't see.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I predict they will not repeat that next quarter, some (fill in whatever you want to call them) have a years supply in their garage. One can only hope that at the end of the day they do not profit from their greed.

I agree their sales will probably be down for quite a while. In the end, it'll average out.

Why would you call a manufacturer making money off of panic buying "greed"? I'd bet their prices didn't go up to their large wholesale customers due to strict contracts. Their profit is probably a result of a large increase in demand and production volume to satisfy that demand. Would you expect a company to give it away or sell it for a loss or break even price? Further, IIRC the same article indicated the business lost money last year.

This company isn't the guy who ran into a local retail store, Costco or Sam's Club, bought a huge supply and is now hawking it curbside at the commuter train station for 20X retail price he paid. Sheesh!

[Mel Fulks]

I don't think sales will be down. The real estate agent " bonus room" is going to become " the toilet paper vault".
The next reincarnation of "Gone With The Wind" will show Scarlet O'Hara ,fist in air, crying "...I will NEVER run out of
toilet paper again !!"

[Doug Garson]

I agree their sales will probably be down for quite a while. In the end, it'll average out.

Why would you call a manufacturer making money off of panic buying "greed"? I'd bet their prices didn't go up to their large wholesale customers due to strict contracts. Their profit is probably a result of a large increase in demand and production volume to satisfy that demand. Would you expect a company to give it away or sell it for a loss or break even price? Further, IIRC the same article indicated the business lost money last year.

This company isn't the guy who ran into a local retail store, Costco or Sam's Club, bought a huge supply and is now hawking it curbside at the commuter train station for 20X retail price he paid. Sheesh!
Sorry I should have been clearer (I wondered if I should have been more precise ) I didn't mean the manufacturers, I meant the (I'll fill in the blank) greedy people who went in and bought hundreds of rolls of toilet paper leaving none on the shelf for others.

[Bill Dufour]

Went by Big5 sporting goods today and there was a long line of people outside. They were counting them, in and out. Must have been at least 10-15 people waiting. I saw no sale signs? Grocery store next door had no line when we went in.
Bill D

[Doug Garson]

Pretty common up here, even big box stores like Home Depot are limiting the number of people in the store to allow for social distancing. They even have pylons or markings on the ground to help keep 2 meters apart in the lineup outside.

[Brian Elfert]

Just about every store I have been to during the past week or two is tracking customers going in and out of the store and limiting customers if necessary. Menards a few weeks ago had a map of the store that stated 26 square feet per customer and that the store could handle over 7,000 customers! I wouldn't want to be in Menards with 7,000+ customers pandemic or not. They are now limiting to 500 customers.

I bought groceries at Walmart today and the TP section was about 1/2 full. They had some generic TP in a very plain 4 pack for 69 cents. I don't know if that is new or not as I don't normally buy TP at Walmart.

[Jim Becker]

People per square foot is being enforced here for stores that are open, too, and yes, it's for social distancing, both in the isles as well as to make the checkout go more smoothly since there's usually limited space for folks to line up properly distanced. I've just adjusted my shopping times for food to compensate and generally have no line/no waiting as a result. I haven't been to Home Depot for a couple weeks now, choosing to get doo-dads at the local True Value store instead...although I wasn't happy with how I was treated in the paint department the other day when I needed a color match and they screwed up.. Otherwise, that store is generally great. Go figure.

[Mike Soaper]

A couple of weeks ago when TP was really scarce I saw a tv ad where a local new car dealership was offering a 6 pack of TP with every new car.

[Andrew Seemann]

Meat will be the next manufactured shortage. I read that our meat exports are at near record levels but somehow we'll not have enough for domestic distribution. Never let a crisis go to waste.

It isn't so much a manufactured crisis as disruption at a scale beyond the distribution network's ability to absorb.

The problem around here is that some of the big processing plants have shut down due to COVID19 outbreaks, so there are plenty of hogs, but not enough places to send them to. Many are getting euthanized because they can't get processed in time. Kind of like the oil thing a while back where people were paying to have oil taken off of their hands. It is unfortunate all around; for farmers, workers, and the plant owners.

We are paying the price now for the savings of just-in-time efficencies in our economy. The just-in-time model isn't robust or redundant enough to compensate for extended or system wide disruption.

[Nathan Johnson]

Just about every store I have been to during the past week or two is tracking customers going in and out of the store and limiting customers if necessary. Menards a few weeks ago had a map of the store that stated 26 square feet per customer and that the store could handle over 7,000 customers! I wouldn't want to be in Menards with 7,000+ customers pandemic or not. They are now limiting to 500 customers.

I bought groceries at Walmart today and the TP section was about 1/2 full. They had some generic TP in a very plain 4 pack for 69 cents. I don't know if that is new or not as I don't normally buy TP at Walmart.

The Riverdale Menards parking lot is Packed every time I've driven by it. Even at odd weekday times. I've avoided it.

I have not seen a cleaning wipe in a store since February. Toilet paper only recently has been pretty consistently partially stocked.
Fortunately, we were able to get some Rescue (hydrogen peroxide concentrate for veterinarians) and make our own. And Walmart had some isopropyl alcohol last time I was in for the first time in a long time.

[Bill Dufour]

My question was not controlling the number of people in the store but why a demand for sporting goods. I saw a tv ad the other night for National Parks. Standard ad from before covid saying get out and see the parks, have fun be active. Fine and dandy but the parks are closed now. So who needs sporting goods enough to form long lines. All I can see is athletic shoes for walking/running by yourself or maybe home weight lifting/ treadmill etc. Maybe they are buying ice chests to store their hoarded meat?
Bill D.

[Tom Stenzel]

When the pandemic hoarding was just starting I asked the wife to pick up some peppercorns. Because we were completely out.

To pick up everything she had on her list she went to three stores. There was no black pepper in two of them and the third store only had them in those cheap plastic top grinders. Black pepper hoarding! Who'da thought?

Toilet paper seems to be back in the stores. Some stores have meat, some don't. A package of meat to make a meatloaf was $11, double the normal price.

-Tom

[Rob Luter]

It isn't so much a manufactured crisis as disruption at a scale beyond the distribution network's ability to absorb.

The problem around here is that some of the big processing plants have shut down due to COVID19 outbreaks, so there are plenty of hogs, but not enough places to send them to. Many are getting euthanized because they can't get processed in time. Kind of like the oil thing a while back where people were paying to have oil taken off of their hands. It is unfortunate all around; for farmers, workers, and the plant owners.

We are paying the price now for the savings of just-in-time efficiencies in our economy. The just-in-time model isn't robust or redundant enough to compensate for extended or system wide disruption.

It can be absorbed, even if through alternate distribution.

I used to raise hogs. The disruption in the packing houses will amount to about three weeks. Three weeks means exactly zero in the marketability of a hog. Meat on the hoof isn't perishable. While our JIT model of raising and processing may target a hog of a particular weight for the sake of uniformity, a hog that's 15# heavier will butcher up just fine. Ask any country butcher. Anyone that would euthanize hogs because their schedule was being disrupted is an idiot.

I heard a great story on the news this week about a group that was dealing with actual perishable items like fruits and vegetables. The farmers were worried they'd need to "plow it under" because their normal distribution chain was disrupted. This group organized an alternate distribution chain that would pick the stuff up and deliver it to food banks, etc. That's better for the farmer too, as they don't need to spend resources plowing it under.

There are solutions to all these problems. We just need to realize we're bright enough to figure them out.

[Stan Calow]

Bill, regarding why the sporting goods store has a line to get in - do they sell guns & ammunition there? Most of our sporting goods stores do, and gun stores are designated essential. They've been busy with curbside service the whole time.

Meat shortage. Three highest infection rate non-urban counties in Kansas are those with meat packing plants. The workers, especially the undocumented ones that are suddenly essential, are not happy.

[Brian Elfert]

I found some Clorox wipes at a Target store. They had maybe fifty 35 count containers between the Clorox and 7th Generation brands. I would be shocked if they aren't gone by the end of day.