Sales that are up during pandemic

[MrsPete]

Something I read in the newspaper years ago: Frozen pizza is a barometer of the economy. Apparently when things are good financially people order in pizza -- but as the economy dips, people buy more frozen pizzas.

 

[disykat]

My stove in on it's last legs and we went appliance shopping. The salesman told me Freezers are flying right now. People are stockpiling food so freezer sales went way up. Went even further up when the meat thing happened.

(funny that while I was typing MrsPete wrote about frozen pizza!)

 

[Snowysmom]

Alcohol sales are up along with snack foods. I was picking up a bottle of wine and one guy mentioned that there is going to be alot of people with alcohol issues after this. For the record I have 2 glasses of wine a week. LOL! I have seen people in the supermarket with overflowing carts filled with snacks, pastries, cookies etc. Maybe they bought those before this but I never really noticed it as much.

 

[easyas123]

My stove in on it's last legs and we went appliance shopping. The salesman told me Freezers are flying right now. People are stockpiling food so freezer sales went way up. Went even further up when the meat thing happened.

(funny that while I was typing MrsPete wrote about frozen pizza!)

I know they are a commodity around here! Around mid-March my SIL decided she'd replace the one she had. Couldn't find one, still can't.

 

[jesusfreak75]

According to the grocery chain for which my daughter works condom sales are thru the roof. Guess not to much social distancing going on in some places.

 

[bethbuchall]

I've bought more potato chips in the last 3 months than I've bought in the last 5 years combined. I'm not sure why. Other than that, I can't think of anything outside of our normal purchasing, though my grocery bill is higher so maybe there are a few other things in there.

 

[MrsPete]

Went even further up when the meat thing happened.

I'm not quite convinced "the meat thing" is actually happening. I find the grocery store unpredictable these days: one day I'll find no chicken -- but plenty of beef. The next time I'll find pork is essentially the only meat available. The next time packaged chicken will be available, but no chicken nuggets. The one meat that is always available, it seems: rotisserie chickens. In fact, they're on sale more often than usual. I'm not finding a good selection of meat, but that's not the same thing as NO meat.

I kinda wonder if people with new freezers are creating a shortage.

To a lesser degree, I'm finding the same thing with shelf-stable products. Yeast is just a thing of the past, but what's available /not available is hit-or-miss. Last week I couldn't get my preferred cake mix. Granola was absent one week. Sometimes the bread aisle is full /other times it's very picked-over.

Go figure.

 

[Darcy03231]

Pool sales are way up in our area. Most places have sold out of above-ground pools and can't get more from the manufacturers. Installation is already out to August.

 

[keaster]

Any outdoor patio furniture/decor items. In our area things are selling out like hotcakes. I think many people are planning to spend their summer in their back yards.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I'm not quite convinced "the meat thing" is actually happening. I find the grocery store unpredictable these days: one day I'll find no chicken -- but plenty of beef. The next time I'll find pork is essentially the only meat available. The next time packaged chicken will be available, but no chicken nuggets. The one meat that is always available, it seems: rotisserie chickens. In fact, they're on sale more often than usual. I'm not finding a good selection of meat, but that's not the same thing as NO meat.

I kinda wonder if people with new freezers are creating a shortage.

To a lesser degree, I'm finding the same thing with shelf-stable products. Yeast is just a thing of the past, but what's available /not available is hit-or-miss. Last week I couldn't get my preferred cake mix. Granola was absent one week. Sometimes the bread aisle is full /other times it's very picked-over.

Go figure.

No it's not due to people getting new freezers. It's a supply chain issue. Have none of the restaurants or fast food places near you been impacted by meat supply issues? They aren't getting their supplies from Walmart.

 

[MrsPete]

No it's not due to people getting new freezers. It's a supply chain issue. Have none of the restaurants or fast food places near you been impacted by meat supply issues? They aren't getting their supplies from Walmart.

I'm not aware of any local restaurants or fast food places not having meat, and we've done "take out" fairly often -- but it's possible I've just been fortunate.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I'm not aware of any local restaurants or fast food places not having meat, and we've done "take out" fairly often -- but it's possible I've just been fortunate.

I didn't say not having meat at all. I said impacted by meat supply. Many are taking on vastly increased costs or having a reduction in the amount of meat sent to them giving them less to work with

In terms of the grocery stores it's their suppliers they are having issues with leading to less overall meat being sent to them (and increased costs). That's why you're seeing limits on meats because there's not as much meat to begin with and availability in getting it sent to them to restock less than before. Your original comment was you thought people were just getting freezers at their homes and that's why there was a reduction in meat at the stores. There's been nationwide meat supply issues. It should hopefully get better over the summer though

 

[easyas123]

Geez

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Geez

 

[disykat]

I 100% agree that the hoarders are part of what is causing shortages. First there is a supply problem (or rumors of a supply problem in some cases) then the hoarding exacerbates the problem.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Wendy's is one as well as other restaurants around that have meat supply issues (one of our most well known had a 250% increase in brisket costs from their suppliers [they smoke their own meat though]. Personally I know of one (outside of a chain) and he's def. most certainly getting his stuff straight from suppliers. No hoarding causing that. He's had unfortunately several missed deliveries because the supply isn't there.

Hoarding was more of a problem in the beginning but hasn't been explaining the issues that have affected things later on (processing plant outbreaks and shutdowns and others things have stepped into that. https://www.cnet.com/health/is-ther...res-the-situation-with-beef-chicken-and-pork/ Just take a place random number getting 100 packages of meat when maybe they would have gotten 300 and restocking that quickly with less packages of meat going to them they don't have the plentiful supply they did before.

Unfortunately hoarding isn't responsible for culling off animals which is horrifying to even think about: https://www.vox.com/2020/5/4/21243636/meat-packing-plant-supply-chain-animals-killed
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/farmers-euthanize-millions-pigs-meat-plants-close-coronavirus/

*make of it what you will; don't need to go on due to the actual thread topic

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

I've been toying with the idea of getting a blender. I've been wanting to make the Dole Whip recipe Disney posted a few weeks ago, and I saw a watermelon margarita that looks incredible. But since I have no businesses indulging in either one I've held off on the blender purchase. I had no idea they are in short supply.

I read that acoustic guitars are selling like crazy, which makes sense

DH has taken up Bass guitar, and DS electric guitar in the last month, so we now own 2 bass guitars, 1 electric guitar, 2 plug in amps, 1 tiny amp, and 1 regular amp. At least they use headphones so I can't hear them playing. Though DH did try to seranade me with "Thunderstruck" the other night.....

 

[kbuck504]

bikes and other equipment like that

 

[Colleen27]

Alcohol sales are up along with snack foods. I was picking up a bottle of wine and one guy mentioned that there is going to be alot of people with alcohol issues after this. For the record I have 2 glasses of wine a week. LOL!

The change in alcohol sales probably isn't nearly as dramatic as the retail numbers alone suggest. A lot of people, myself included, have simply shifted their buying habits from drinks with dinner or while hanging out in a bar to retail because the restaurants and bars are closed. But all of those "alcohol sales up by XX%" aren't taking into account how much alcohol sales in licensed venues are down; they're just comparing retail numbers before to retail numbers now.