Costco sees run on supplies amid coronavirus worries. Should you stock up?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

If you noticed your local Costco was more crowded than normal this weekend, it probably wasn't your imagination.

People have been stocking up on supplies amid the growing concerns about coronavirus spreading in the United States. Store managers report big crowds, and social media are filled with photos of empty shelves even though there are no shortages of items.

Experts continue to urge caution, despite new cases in California and Washington that appear to have been spread in communities rather than from people connected to overseas travel.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield told Congress on Thursday there was no need for healthy Americans to stock up on supplies.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/costco-sees-run-on-supplies-amid-coronavirus-worries-should-you-stock-up/ar-BB10Bfsn

My local Costco was pretty crowded today. Unfortunately they didn't have everything I needed.

[GP6971]

1. Ours was mobbed

yesterday. It was like the holiday season.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. I was at Costco yesterday (normal visit, not to stock up), and

it was pretty crowded. But then, it was a Saturday and I usually try to go there on weekdays when I can so I don't know whether it was unusually crowded for a Saturday. I didn't see a lot of very obvious stocking-up, though I saw one cart that was piled high with stuff like TP and bottled water. It could have been COVID-panic, or they could have been doing normal buying for a larger organization. I bought a little more food than I usually do, plus the Eternal Pack of TP (because I always get that when I'm at Costco) but otherwise didn't make any unusual purchases.

[dflprincess]

9. Costco is always a zoo on Saturday.

I think it would be hard to tell if it was any worse than normal.

I did some shopping at Cub Friday evening and it was pretty quiet. I will confess that I bought more soup than I normally would along with some frozen veggies and a few dinners (and I had been getting away from those <sigh> )

[customerserviceguy]

11. Back when

we lived in New York, Saturday was our favorite day to go. The Hassidic Jewish families who shopped there were not around on Saturday. They usually bring a gaggle of kids who stalk the samples tables.

[tanyev]

3. I was dreading my usual grocery trip to Kroger yesterday,

but if anything it was slower than usual. Maybe they were all at Costco, or the panic hasn’t hit North Texas yet.

[imavoter]

19. I usually go on off hours to the store.

but I went late to the store on purpose tonight, to avoid crowds.
At this point I'm more worried about flu than corona, but...

The local Walmart....all the rice, pasta, beans, etc...were gone...almost.
Somebody is stocking up.

I figure over the next few weeks I'll grab and extra can of this and that, just in case.

I don't know what Texas will really do. I mean there are so many uninsured here....
:shudder:

North Texas here

[Ilsa]

4. Ours is always busy on Saturdays, but it was more

Crowded yesterday. I had run out of rice (I buy it in 25 pound bags) and needed more peanut butter and wanted to stock up on toilet paper, but they were out of their store brand, and I don't like Charmin, which they were almost out of.

Also, they were handing out wipes at the entrance, which is new for them.

[Hortensis]

5. Well, this is something good to come out the the epidemic scare.

This is nothing to what people might need if a foreign nation took down a big part of our power grid, for instance. In spite of that, most people have had very little put by to survive massive systems breakdowns.

Now, our population will be that much more resilient. For a while, anyway. Even a two-week supply of food and Charmin is far better than two days.

[getagrip_already]

6. No costco near us, but we have bj's wholesale club.....

It wasn't crowded at all either yesterday or today. There were spot outages, mostly hand sanitizer and you couldn't find an n-95 construction mask anywhere (I have a project that will require sanding).

Otherwise, no real rushes and they had plenty of tp anf staples like flour, rice, sugar, etc.

In mass fwiw. RI announced a case this morning so it's here.

[bitterross]

7. I wasn't concerned until I watched this report on Wuhan/the Hubei Lockdown.

This a long report, but worth watching.

To summarize, it's about Australians in Wuhan and Huanan who got stuck there. One couple traveled to Wuhan from Austrailia because the Chinese government said everything was under control. Sound familiar? The Tim, guy, says "Where else in the world is there such an f-ed up goverment" and I just shook my head. Because I know exactly where.

Basically, the Chinese government lied to the people about the severity, suppressed and even disciplined the doctors who tried to report the issue. AGAIN, this sounds very, very familiar.

I don't know for a fact that the Trump administration is doing the same thing, but, it would not be a surprise. The pictures of the huge city with no one one the streets are disturbing.

It CAN happen here.

[Kaleva]

8. I've been stocked up on most things for months.

200 surgical masks

9 N95 masks

several bottles of hand sanitizer

concentrated disinfectant

disinfectant wipes

1 gallon of bleach

20 lb white rice

16 lbs dried pinto beans

36 cans tuna

16 10 oz cans of chicken

10 cans spam

12 cans diced tomatoes

12 cans tomato sauce

24 cans red kidney beans

54 cans of various vegetables

42 cans of condensed soup

4 40 oz. jars of peanut butter

6 1 lb boxes of elbow macaroni

4 boxes of saltines

8 16 oz bags of whole wheat rotini

4 42 ounce containers of quick oats

24 18 oz boxes of farina

32 cans of pork and beans

24 cans of black beans

17 quarts of various homemade soups

2 gallons of homemade kimchi

4 quarts of homemade sauerkraut

21 quarts of ultra pasteurized milk

6 12.8 oz bags of nonfat dry milk

272 8 oz bottles of water

25 gallons of potable water in 5 gallon containers

35 gallons of water in the water heater

55 gallons of non-potable water for flushing the toilet

36 mega rolls of toilet paper

500 gallon LP gas tank is kept at 40% capacity or higher


and a bunch of other stuff like candles, board & card games, popcorn, books, toiletries, hobby supplies, coffee, tea, juice mix, condiments and seasonings, and other things

[flamingdem]

13. Great list, thanks .. but ..

Spam, really?

[2naSalit]

16. +1

[Kaleva]

18. It has a long shelf life and is high in calories.

[JDC]

10. I went today to grab a couple things. It was a madhouse

[Generic Brad]

12. Annual rewards were issued last week

Getting my cash back certificates from both Costco and my Costco VISA card is what prompted my run there this weekend. A potential pandemic was not a factor for me.

I love having a shopping spree there at the end of every February where I can stock up on essentials for free and have them give me change. I’m pretty sure that’s what brought in the crowds to Nashville this weekend too.

[TexasBushwhacker]

15. I went to Walgreens in SW Houston

The only thing I noticed was they were sold old of bottled water and the soft drinks were pretty sparse, but we had an 8 ft water main break on Thursday and the city was on orders to boil water until yesterday. Our honorable county sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted "It's a cluster, but we'll work it out."

Pictures!

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/02/27/us/houston-water-break/index.html

[2naSalit]

17. I have to go to Costco

in a couple days to stock up on my six month supply of things like toothbrushes and a few perishables that I can convert to other less perishable things. But I don't need anything else that I can't get in the nearest town. It's a drive to the city where a Costco is but I have other business there that day so I plan my Costco hits for when I have to go to the city, which isn't often. Hope it's not crazy when I get there.