Walking through Walmart in Swatara Township on Friday afternoon was like walking through a store after a game of Supermarket Sweep. It was not necessarily overly busy at the time but you can tell that’s it been busy for days. Many of the aisles in the grocery part of the store have items that are low.
Complete shelves of ground beef, milk, tuna and soup were wiped out Friday. While there were temporary out of stock signs on items like cleaning products, toilet paper, some olive oil products, some candles, some tomato sauce products and some over the counter medication including some Tylenol and Advil products.
Walmart was out of water. Most shelves carrying paper towels were empty with just some paper towels left.
But even with all the items that were low, shoppers were still able to find mostly what they were looking for. Revita Davis of Swatara Township said that while other stores are out of items, she said she was able to find the items she needed at Walmart and Aldi. She says she was able to find hand sanitizer at Walmart as opposed to other stores.
Davis said that shopping at Walmart on Friday wasn’t any busier than usual and she was able to get what she needed.
There were a few people in Walmart and other stores today wearing face masks.
And the coronavirus was on Davis’ mind.
“My husband didn’t want me to go out,” she said. “But we need food.”
Charles Decker of Swatara Township was able to find almost everything at Walmart he needed, except for water. But he was able to find it at another store.
“I was in Sharp Shopper earlier in the day and they have water,” he said.
People have been buying out the store of a number of different items. And its more than just cleaning products, hand sanitizer and toilet paper. People are also buying up bread, milk and eggs like they do before a typical snowstorm. But, there are so many regular items that seem be being purchased at higher rates.
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And with schools in the region closing down as well other organizations closing due to the spread of the coronavirus, many people are heading to the area grocery stores stocking up on items for extra long stays at home.
The main items that seemed scarce on Friday at several midstate stores were items like bottled water, soap, toilet paper and cleaning products while many people are buying up tissues, napkins, paper plates, pet food and batteries.
Other items that customers seemed to be purchasing at high rates at Walmart included oranges, onions, tomatoes and bananas; frozen items like TV dinners, frozen pizza, frozen french fries, frozen potatoes and ice cream; refrigerated items like eggs, yogurt and hummus, and other items that like salsa, popcorn, juice ,rolls, cereal, sauerkraut and coffee.
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The Weis store on Union Deposit Road in Susquehanna Township on March 13, 2020. (Daniel Urie, PennLive)
At Weis Markets on Union Deposit Road in Susquehanna Township, items that were temporarily out of stock included baby corn, jalapeños, canned corned beef, some brands of vegetable oil and coconut milk as well as toilet paper, Lysol and Clorox products, frozen green beans and face masks. Customers were also buying butter, cream cheese, milk, cucumbers, avocados, salsa, fresh packaged vegetables and chopped salads at high levels.
“People are buying at an unprecedented level,” Weis Markets spokesman, Dennis Curtin told PennLive earlier in the day on Friday.
The Giant Food store on Union Deposit Road in Lower Paxton township on March 13, 2020. (Daniel Urie, PennLive)
At Giant Food on Union Deposit Road in Lower Paxton township, the store was out of toilet paper and nonfat dry milk and there were empty shelves of water and paper towels while certain brands of beans, corn, noodles, tomato sauce, pet food, diapers, baby food, lunch meat, Gatorade ,milk, bread, eggs, grape juice, hand soap ,canned salmon and ice cream sandwiches were among the items that seemed to be running low.
The Target store in Swatara Township on March 13, 2020. (Daniel Urie, PennLive)
At Target in Swatara Township, the store was out of water, toilet paper, disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer, face wipes, hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches and laundry bags. And while people were buying up items like pet food, Tide, hand soap, napkins, plastic plates, paper towels and eggs, many of the same items that people are buying at other stores, Target customers are also buying out other products like soccer balls, basketballs, sleeping bags, board games like clue, humidifiers, legos and duct tape.
Weis, Giant, Walmart and Target were all low on meat.
And it looks like sandwiches are on the menu this weekend for Walmart shoppers since bread, lunch meat and peanut butter and jelly were all running low.
While customers at Weis were buying out pasta noodles and tomato sauce.
And in the regular part of Walmart items running low included bed frames, air mattresses, light bulbs, mouthwash, vitamins and band-aids.
One thing that really stood out on the non-food side of Walmart was the numerous shelves of footwear that were empty that included flip-flops and shoes and sneakers for men, women and children.
Six of the eleven were open at Walmart and numerous customers were using the Scan & Go Lines.
Stores on Friday were busy for a typical weekday but it wasn’t overly busy. It’s clear that customers have been buying out products for several days now.
Decker said it was a little busy at the store on Friday but he said he didn’t have to wait in line long when he left the store.
“I went through the self-checkout,” he said.
At Karns Foods, CEO Scott Karns compared the level of shopping to what happens before the prediction of a four-foot blizzard.
“This has been a growing tsunami. We get more and more business,” Karns told PennLive earlier in the day on Friday. “We have never seen a surge of customers like this that has been sustained. We are used to big runs at Christmas and New Year’s. I’ve told my staff I don’t think we’ve hit the peak yet.”
While some stores had signs for product limits for items like water and toilet paper on Friday, many of those products were sold out at this point anyway.
On Friday, Wegmans in Silver Spring Township, which is usually open 24 hours a day, announced it will close at 11 p.m. and reopen at 6 p.m. each night to clean the store and to restock the merchandise.
As of 5 p.m. Friday, there were 41 presumed-positive or confirmed cases for the coronavirus across Pennsylvania including three in Cumberland County.
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