People concerned about fallout from the coronavirus have been wiping out grocery store shelves across Austin and the U.S. as other countries restrict movement to contain the spread of COVID-19.
About 100 shoppers waited outside the Costco in South Austin on Thursday before the store was even open. When an employee rolled up the entrance door 10 minutes early, they made a polite but hasty rush to the back of the store to fill their carts with toilet paper and paper towels. Only one brand of each was available.
“I came over here yesterday and got all that, so just coming back for extra things,” Joanne Koster said. “Coffee, Clorox and cereal.”
Sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer were sold out, but other pantry staples were readily available, including baby formula, rice and Spam.
“It’s been a little crazy this past week in terms of outside shopping frequency and sales levels, and not only in the United States,” Costco CFO Richard Galanti said in a conference call with investors last week. “In terms of placing quantity limits on what a member can purchase, we are doing that in some instances.”
Other grocers are reporting similar trends. In a public statement, H-E-B said it was implementing limits on how much consumers could buy of some items to “help protect the supply chain in Texas.”
The market research company Neilson says spikes in retail spending have coincided with major COVID-19 news events like government news conferences and public health announcements.
For example, Neilson says sales of medical supplies soared by more than 85% in the week ending Feb. 29 compared to the same week last year after reports of suspected local transmission and President Trump’s news conference.
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