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Costco and Coronavirus Panic-Shopping

The one item we should have at home is lots of soap.
To wash our hands for twenty seconds.
 
Or the symptoms are so minor they do not even notice or think it is a chest cold.

True. The Director of the NIH spoke in Birmingham yesterday. I have linked the article below. His statement pertinent to this discussion was:

“He predicted the fatality rate would be closer to 1 percent overall.”

“I think it will be very surprising if the death rate is less than 1 percent,” Collins said. “Even though that doesn’t sound that bad, it’s at least 10 times worse than the flu.”




Harry
 
Toilet paper fight. Almost a Mad Max scenario, lol. Maybe more like a Black Friday Sale.

Bill

 
Practical advice...

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Sound quality not the best, but cute song.
 
I really hope Costco announces a change to their refund policy soon. They really shouldn’t allow the hoarders to bring back cart loads of stuff.



From https://fortune.com/2020/03/06/fear-of-coronavirus-sends-consumers-into-a-grocery-hoarding-frenzy/

COVID-19, the disease that has sickened more than 100,000 people worldwide and killed more than 3,400 people, has created legions of nervous hoarders who are loading up on canned goods, frozen dinners, toilet paper, and cleaning products. Many like Cohen want to be prepared as they hear warnings about quarantines and watch a growing number of companies like Twitter, Microsoft, and Amazon ask their employees to work from home.

Such stockpiling is expected to last for weeks, resulting in a boon for discounters and grocery stores as well as food delivery services that is also introducing logistical headaches at the same time. Costco Wholesale's Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti described the buying frenzy as "off the charts'' throughout the U.S. in a call with investors this week. Some like Kroger, are now placing limits on certain items such as cold and flu-related products to five each per order.

Target and Walmart say they are talking to suppliers to replenish bare shelves, but didn’t say how long that could take. And New Jersey-based Campbell Soup said it's stepping up production because of increased orders from grocery stores and other retailers as demand started growing this week.
Instacart reports a surge in demand for pantry items such as powdered milk and canned goods, as well as personal care products like hand sanitizer and vitamins. Sales are up tenfold across the country but business is particularly heavy in California, Washington, Oregon, and New York, where sales are up twenty-fold over the past week, the company said.
Meanwhile, sales of hand sanitizers in the U.S. more than doubled in the four weeks ending Feb. 29 compared to the same period a year ago, according to market research firm Nielsen, while sales of thermometers spiked 52.3% during that same period. Sales of dried beans spiked nearly 18%.
Online purchases of toilet paper have nearly doubled and non-perishable items like canned goods rose nearly 70% during the January and February period, according to Adobe Analytics.

...Such hoarding resembles typical behavior in the days leading up to a hurricane or other natural disasters. Superstorm Sandy, the deadly hurricane that struck the Northeast in 2012, caused people to crowd stores to buy flashlights, batteries, and food.
But what’s different about the hoarding around the coronavirus is that it's happening all across the country. Consumers are also dealing with an unknown threat and they have no idea when it will be over, consumer experts say.
....There could be some buyers' remorse if the coronavirus outbreak passes without forcing huge swaths of people to stay at home. That happened in 2011 after Hurricane Irene, which passed through the Northeast without inflicting much harm. The crowds who braved the long lines to buy batteries and canned goods then started to complain and demand refunds for all the stuff they bought.
 
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Some practical advice in this link. Given TUGs purpose, pay particular attention to #5:

5. All your travel plans are about to get screwed up. If you are considering booking flights right now, get refundable tickets. ETA: most trip insurance will not cover cancellations due to a pandemic. Look for "cancel for any reason" trip insurance.
Considerations for risks related to that trip you’re planning: how bad would it be if you got stuck where you are going for 3 to 6 weeks? How bad would it be to be isolated at home for 2-3 weeks upon your return? Do you have direct contact with people who are over 70 and/or have lung conditions? If those seem really bad to you, rethink your trip, especially if it is to a location where there are confirmed cases.




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Some practical advice in this link. Given TUGs purpose, pay particular attention to #5:






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Some airlines are offering compensation (of various types) if booking before March 31 - including no cancellation/change fees.

Flights to STT have dropped quite a bit - luckily, first year we didn’t buy tickets 10+ months in advance.


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Some airlines are offering compensation (of various types) if booking before March 31 - including no cancellation/change fees.

Flights to STT have dropped quite a bit - luckily, first year we didn’t buy tickets 10+ months in advance.


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Yes, but sadly they aren’t offering me anything on a flight I have booked for this week. This promotion is strictly intended to keep customers buying new tickets, not to protect those of us who already purchased.


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Yes, but sadly they aren’t offering me anything on a flight I have booked for this week. This promotion is strictly intended to keep customers buying new tickets, not to protect those of us who already purchased.


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Yeah, I just changed a flight in Italy for the first week in June and the deadline for free changes was May31st. My trip is June 3rd.... I was just baffled. 7 hours later, Italy places a travel ban. Not a good look for these airlines.
 
DH and I went for our weekly food shop at ShopRite today. There was plenty of TP (it was on sale) but there was a sign saying limit 4 per person due to increased demand.
Same sign in the cleaning product aisle. I went to get Lysol bathroom cleaner because I need some more, and all the shelves with all the brands were empty. Almost everyone had a can of Lysol spray in their cart.
There was plenty of water and we bought our usual case of 24 bottles for the work week.

This morning I had heard of the first diagnosed case of COVID in my county. This evening I found out that the person is within 15 miles of my home. I had figured we had a week or so before we saw the first case because I assumed it would spread west (NYC) to east. But it just jumped to the east end of Long Island.

I am a school nurse and people were keeping their children home last week, when we did not have any confirmed cases. I am afraid that our schools will be empty tomorrow.
 
Third delivery from Amazon- still wrong. Now I have 12, 24 ounce containers of rice and couscous free of charge. Crazy.

I did order that bidet contraption on Amazon. I always wanted one, but it also will cut down on some toilet paper usage. We find we use a lot more of it- and water with flushing- since we are retired and home all day.
 
I saw TP in great supply today at Home Depot, of all places. Not a place I'd think of that would be selling it. They had it stacked in the aisle on the way to the checkout area, which makes me think they brought it in due to demand.

Before you ask, No, I didn't get any. I already have a bunch of Costco TP in my garage. And no, I don't hoard - I just buy a brick when we need one. That's maybe once a year. Same with paper towels, dog food, and whatever else I find at Costco that strikes my fancy.

This week, it was bales of potting soil. Spring is happening, and I have a ton of things to plant. I have four 50quart bales of soil in my storage shed, next to three huge resin pots I want to fill.

Hi, I'm Dave. And I admit I have a Costco shopping problem... LOL! :)
 
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We were in the Costco on Maui today. I didn't see anyone leaving with large quantities of water or to. I also didn't check to see if there was any still in stock.
 
Actually it was 2304.
 
I am going to line outside Costco tomorrow before 10am to buy............. their rotisserie chicken. I had posted before that my husband hates rotisserie chicken. I turned a rotisserie chicken last week into chicken vegetable soup and he is begging for more. While I am there, I may pick up a bag of TP, just for the fun of it. ;) Have to keep up with the Joneses...
 
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