Empty Store Shelves

Yeah, I do the weekly grocery shopping and usually come home without something that was on the list. Been going on for about two years or maybe a little more. I shop a very large national chain and the store is gigantic. But some items I normally buy simply do not appear on the shelves, sometimes for weeks, sometimes they never show up again.

Last week I was shopping for items to put into a brining solution for Javelina meat that I got this past hunting season. The recipe called for a sprig of fresh Thyme. Two stores were out, including the gigantic one where I usually shop. They had lots of other fresh spices, but in each case thyme was missing from the slot - empty. So they normally carried it. The other item I couldn't find was Kosher Salt, but I had enough at the house.

Finally found some thyme after running around at the third store I went to.

There are other items I've had this experience with.

It's just small things, but it's irritating.

 

It is called Just In Time marketing .
It is done to reduce inventory for one basic reason ,taxation.
A company is taxed on all the product even though it was taxed the year before . The older the inventory the more costly it gets .
Now grocery stores do it to alleviate having to store food in back, notice the bread dealers manage their own shelves that is not a store employee . About the only kind of product that is store in back is produce , but that is well maintained by store employees to the shelves during the day .
Here now lately though I am seeing something new, as employees are managing shelves on a micro level at the local wall mart that's a good thing .
Believe me if a shelf is empty here there is nothing in back .
I too see empty shelves for products that should be there .Just yesterday I was looking for acidophilous and none was to be found and I had an employee helping look for it. Not that I needed it but that I wanted it for my own stores .
I have plenty of food in my own reserves, but I also work off those reserves, so my shopping is not of desperation but of maintenance .
As an aside I have seen others that seem to be prepping for something hauling 2 grocery carts of foods we might choose ,not for a party , I had to wonder how they were going to transport all of it .
Which brings me to this , and mind you I answer to my conscience and my God . But if I am building a reserve of something I don't empty the shelf of it . That is hoarding. I buy 10 cans this week and 10 cans the next IF it does not empty the shelf.
I am not under duress I am building stores ,a little at a time. If there is something in particular I will ask the manager to order me a case or 2 and they are glad to accommodate me .
Even if a store does not normally handle a product they usually will order it for you .

 

I know the restock days and go on those days. Most people do not know this. Ask an employee when their shipments come in?
Big box stores usually have the same day each week.

 

Thank you for saying that it is happening to you also. I really do not need to go grocery shopping every week but I do because that is what Mom did and I have done every week since I became a Mom. But I believe that the grocery stories do tell a story. Years ago when gas was $4 a gallon I noticed that products at the local store were getting close to expiration and that you had to check your cheese for mold. This told me that people were not buying as much and products were sitting longer. So when I am seeing holes in shelves to me it says either people are buying more, supply is down or they are lacking help. Maybe I am making something out of nothing but I do not think so.

 

I go grocery shopping on the same day every week. Most of the time the shelves are full and I can find everything I need. If my shopping day falls on the 1st or 15th of the month there are always likely to be shortages, whole sections of shelves stripped bare and lines that look like there's a hurricane on the way.
This is the recurring shopping of young military families, and it hasn't changed much in the 40 years I've been seeing it. It's a survival strategy in a way. One military spouse knows that if they don't fill the cupboards and freezer on payday, there may not be any money left after other expenses. Two and sometimes three carts per couple are common. The poor vendors are restocking as fast as they can, but it's a challenge with the crowds.

 

The only time I really noticed empty shelves here in the US. I was in high school. After 3 days, we walked 2 miles to the grocery store through a couple feet if snow. When we got there, there was no food on the shelves. You could by plastic bags, or TP, or soap, but no food of any kind.

If the trucks aren't making constant deliveries, the shelves get bare really fast.
I once gave an oil tanker crewman from another country a ride to a grocery store, the guy went in and bought every bar of soap in the place! It was a medium sized store, not a Safeway or Albertsons, but much bigger than a convenience store.

When I questioned him about it, he says soap is a luxury in his country. If we are ever in a prolonged SHTF, like what happened in Bosnia, or what is going on in Venezuela sanitary supplies will be scarce.
I think it's a good idea to have a good supply of soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, and TP. Don't forget about feminine products too. Stack it deep while it's cheap and readily available.

 

@Gray Wolf great point!
Poor Man's Barter Items

 

only bare shelves I'm seeing are from the seasonal changes - stores are waiting for the spring/summer merchandise to arrive ...
had a few items that were supposed to be on sale that didn't make the trucks due to the weather in certain areas ....
strawberries are coming in now - cheaper than crap ....

 

Nor here....BUT if you look, there isn't a lot of 'depth' on quite a few items. We often buy canned milk, for example (like it in our morning tea), and will buy a case at a time IF it's on the shelf, which many times there isn't that much.

 

Here in europe because of the just in time system the implement here to, we do get some empty shelfs.More so if the roads are blocked by snow or accident.The next day its filled again but prove that if there is no resupply it stay empty.So just a one day supply, most is imported, as we do not grow much anymore its cheaper to buy 1st quality chinese knockoff food.grown under the most absent quality control in rich earth laced with premium industrial waste.

 

Its industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing. We do that too in the metals industry. I am training my AI right now. Its actually fun to train them, like children. I feel real pride when he gets things correct!

 

There will always be conflict when you try to compress analog and digital .
Both have their own agenda, and no patience for the other.
Life get's in the way .
Especially free market life .
During the second world war they had ration stamps , and it was expected that people would respect what they represented but one could not buy any thing with out them no matter ho much money you had. This was to control hoarding ,so there was enough food to go around as well as other goods, even smokes. This was also the peak of recycling at the time as well .
A market was created for the ration stamps but soon after the war they were abolished .If they force the RFI chip this will be the new way for rationing things and food .