Grocery Supplies
By Nicholette Carlson
Staff Writer
One complaint across the country during this coronavirus pandemic is the lack of availability of items many individuals purchased mass quantities of when talk of self quarantine began. Highly sought after items include toilet paper, disinfecting wipes, hand sanitizer, ground beef and eggs.
The Syracuse NewMarket is handling the chaos well and has received many compliments about what the store has available in stock. Kevin Springer, store manager, reminded the community, “Everyone’s running out of everything.” He asks individuals out shopping to be understanding of shortages the store is experiencing. Warehouses and manufacturing are finding it difficult to keep up with the demand and vendors are decreasing the product that is sent out, particularly on meat, due to what they do or do not have available.
He hopes people will calm down and be conscious of what they are buying and how much.
According to the store manager of the North Webster NewMarket, Ben Eilts, they are “in a lot better shape than a lot of places.” However, they are still either sold out or low on many of the popular items such as ground beef, toilet paper and eggs. Clorox wipes, powdered milk and yeast are also hard to find.
The store does have a full produce section and some selection available in the meat section. Eggs are being received but they are hard to keep in stock. While milk was quick to go early last week, they now have a good selection in stock.
Eilts describes his biggest obstacle currently is getting people in to get the job done. The store is hiring people in order to keep the shelves stocked and he encourages those currently looking for work to apply.
Alexandra Musser, store manager of the Syracuse Family Dollar, stated, “I’ve never seen our shelves this bare.” As of the beginning of this week, she was selling her last four rolls of toilet paper. The store had some back stock but it went quickly. While currently truck deliveries have been normal, “as soon as we put it on the shelves ... it’s gone the next day,” she described.
Family Dollar is practically sold out of toilet paper, eggs and hand sanitizer, though they do have some milk still available. Canned goods are also running low. She hopes customers will slow down and give the store a chance to get their stock back up to normal levels.
While the Syracuse location has always closed at 8 p.m., all other locations are now also changing store hours to close at 8 p.m.
Musser has also personally chosen to offer a hot meal to truckers she cooks at home and brings in to keep them fed during this time.
The media relations at Dollar General were unable to be reached for comment.
Recently many of the local stores have seen customers driving from as far away as Fort Wayne and Indianapolis to shop due to a greater selection in our area.
