UK: Supermarket's stripped bare

[Hiltonizer]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...g-shelves-stripped-essentials-snow-fears.html

Panic buying hits supermarkets as shelves stripped of essentials over snow fears

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 5:46 PM on 10th January 2010

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Supermarkets were stripped of essentials today as weathermen predicted further snow and a prolonged period of freezing weather.

Bread, milk and salt to treat frozen pathways are among the item being swept from the shelves as customers stocked up.

Tesco in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, had several empty aisles today lunchtime, including most bread, toilet rolls and even frozen goods.
Bare: Nearly-empty shelves at a Tesco store as shoppers fear running out of food

Bare: Nearly-empty shelves at a Tesco store as shoppers fear running out of food

One shopper said: ‘Most of the bread had gone, in fact I’d say the selves were 90 per cent empty.

‘A lot of the freezers were empty too where people were buying frozen vegetables and chips - and the toilet roll section was empty as well.’ Many shops are ordering extra supplies to keep up with the demand, but several shelves are still being left bare by snow conscious consumers.

Some shops have even hit record sales targets - with goods flying out of stores in larger quantities than before Christmas.

Tracey May, manager at Costcutter in Exeter, was having to order supplies of salt directly from manufacturers but still couldn’t keep up with demand.

She said: ‘As soon as it comes in, it goes out. This has been going on since December.


More...

* Met Office warns of eight inches MORE snow today and tomorrow as Army is put on standby
* £150 to get frozen car back: Recovery firm tows away vehicles abandoned the night before, then charges drivers
* Tragedy of schoolboy killed by lorry on snowy A1 after mother offered to give friend a lift
* Big freeze gives rise to rarest frosty phenomenon: a snow pipe

‘It’s bread and milk that’s selling faster than anything else. The demand for them is really high.

‘Sales should be dropping now because it’s after Christmas - but we are actually experiencing record sales.’ A manager at Somerfield in Exeter said: ‘We ran out of salt about two weeks ago. It’s been coming in sporadically but supplies are quite low.

‘This traditionally happens every winter, but with the prolonged cold snap it’s worse than normal.

‘We’re also short of milk. The problem is people panic. If they can eat two loaves of bread, people buy five. They just need to buy enough to go round.’ Matt Crome, store manager at a Spar in Exeter, said a delivery of salt came in over the weekend.

He said: ‘We haven’t been able to get hold of it for some time, since the cold snap first kicked off. I believe people are using it to salt their paths.

‘We have actually had a delivery now, so it’s back in stock.’ Matt Godwin, manager of the Sainsbury’s store in Exeter, said: ‘We’re struggling a bit on salt as people are coming in and buying that, but generally supplies are very good.’ A manager at Morrisons in Plymouth said: ‘With salt, everyone’s got a supply problem, and I have to admit we’re in the same situation.

‘Generally, customers are tending to panic-buy a bit, but supplies of most things are fine.’ Darren Scott, a manager at the Co-op in Heavitree, said lots of customers were buying salt, but deliveries had not been affected.

He said: ‘They are getting the milk and bread in. It’s just the panic-buying that’s making our supplies lower than normal.’

Yet, we're crazy even if we have just a few weeks of supplies on hand

 

[ARowley]

8 inches of snow puts the army on standby? they should come here and see a real storm. 8 inches... i'm still going out for the day. My local supermarket gets cleaned out everytime it snows also, but we laugh about it.

 

[tele_mark]

Wow, it's bread and milk over there too. Must be something in sheep DNA.

 

[MarkM]

Numbers of things contribute to what is happening over there:

1) people aren't used to snow and ice, they don't know how to drive on it or walk on it, and they don't have the tools to remove it.
2) the "authorities" aren't prepared to deal with it, they don't have enough trucks to clear the streets and with the small enclosed streets there isn't space to put the snow.
3) Snow is a rare occurrence in much of England and when it does occur it is usually melted in a day or two, no-one is prepared for snow to hang around for weeks without melting.
4) People get scared when they are out in as little as 6" of snow and abandon their cars to walk home, this blocks the roads for everyone else.

My mother is one of the lucky ones, she had a good amount of food put aside and younger friends/family that can bring her perishables she runs out of. She has only left her apartment once in the last month due to the weather (primarily fear of falling on the ice as her town has only had about 4 inches snow in total) but her only real concern is running out of cat litter (people are buying it to use on snow instead of using sand and/or salt, both of which are unavailable).

 

[SteelShooter]

I wouldn't be surprised if the UK outlaws stocking up on food, because, you know, it puts some people at a disadvantage during a crisis.

 

[gene]

Numbers of things contribute to what is happening over there:

1) people aren't used to snow and ice, they don't know how to drive on it or walk on it, and they don't have the tools to remove it.
2) the "authorities" aren't prepared to deal with it, they don't have enough trucks to clear the streets and with the small enclosed streets there isn't space to put the snow.
3) Snow is a rare occurrence in much of England and when it does occur it is usually melted in a day or two, no-one is prepared for snow to hang around for weeks without melting.
4) People get scared when they are out in as little as 6" of snow and abandon their cars to walk home, this blocks the roads for everyone else.

My mother is one of the lucky ones, she had a good amount of food put aside and younger friends/family that can bring her perishables she runs out of. She has only left her apartment once in the last month due to the weather (primarily fear of falling on the ice as her town has only had about 4 inches snow in total) but her only real concern is running out of cat litter (people are buying it to use on snow instead of using sand and/or salt, both of which are unavailable).

Still seems Extreme! I was in Georgia , Warner Robbins in 70 and they had 15" of snow and I don't remember them going real crazy over it.