Grocery shopping during the Coronavirus pandemic! 848 cases of coronaviruses as of April 1 in Santa Clara county, up from 14 on March 6. Coronavirus epicenter of California, until recently with Los Angeles county on top with 2474 cases.
The pandemic has turned shopping upside down. With the "shelter in place", most of the population now work from home. So every day, including weekdays, is crowded with people hoarding groceries in a time of national crisis.
Panic buying with people scared to death of the virus, and making a run on hand sanitizers, disinfectant wipes, paper towels, and toilet paper. Toilet paper? People are fearful and will horde toilet paper and other basics in times of crisis, not caring about the needs of others. Trump should have had a quota of 1 per household. It's everyone for himself. You're on your own.
First thing I notice is that the hours are now 6am-10pm, instead of 24/7 in the past. Handy wipes for your use right inside the entrance to wipe down your hands and the grocery cart handle. Those coronaviruses can live for days on hard surfaces!
People line up at 6am and go straight to the customer service booth to get rationed items. Purchase quotas: toilet paper 1, paper towels 1, hand wipes 1, dishwashing soap 1, hand soap 1, medicine 2, hand sanitizer 1, water 2, baby wipes 1. Now granted a package of toilet paper might contain 6 rolls, enough to last my wife and me 9 weeks.
And you are paying a premium for those products. I got a single cylinder of 35 hand wipes for $4, or more than 11 cents per wipe, triple the cost compared to Costco, where you can get a 5 cylinder package of 440 wipes for $17, or 4 cents per wipe.
Tuesday March 31, friend on Facebook stood in the age 60+ only Tuesday 8am Costco line for 1 hour before getting into the entrance to get her 12 roll of toilet paper. At Safeway you are pretty much guaranteed to get it at 6am.
$4.99 for a pack of 4 toilet rolls, each 400 2 ply sheets, compared to $1 for 4 toilet rolls, each 240 2 ply sheets at Dollar store, an 11 minute walk away. Safeway's price is triple that of Dollar, for a comparable amount of toilet paper. But you can't find toilet paper at the Dollar store, as hoarders grab them off the shelves as soon as a shipment comes in, even with the 4 pack limit.
Don't come here as often as in the past. The hot Chinese food at the counter is now competing with the newly opened Wok On Express Chinese take out restaurant, a block away on El Camino Real, closed for nearly a year due to a fire.
Prices for produce, vegetables, and salmon higher than Sprouts. which is an 8 minute walk away on the other side of El Camino Real. 10 minutes walk away is Trader Joes.
There was a notice on doors that only 65+ seniors can enter the store 6am-9am Tuesdays and Thursdays. Notice not on the doors any more. Beginning March 24, Costco has the same policy 8am-9am on those days for seniors 60+, and Target the first hour Wednesdays, so that the most vulnerable population to the coronavirus can get basics before the hoarders! Came last Thursday at 8am and there were a lot of very young looking 65 year olds! read more