Supermarkets - the Megathread

Muahahaha

Just back from Aldi and Dunnes, neither was particularly busy but there was no fresh chicken to be found anywhere. The security guard in Dunnes was at the entrance wiping down customers trollies and basket handles with wet wipes and all the staff were wearing gloves.

Have heard Lidl are implementing priority shopping for OAPs from 9 to 11am which is good news.

Electrical shops in Dublin are reporting that you cant buy a chest freezer anywhere, they all sold out over the weekend.

rossie1977

I was in Lidl yesterday here in Roscommon.

All 2 litre still water, eggs, oatmeal, toilet paper, hand-soap, disinfectant products and any fresh food on offer was gone.

Nobody buying any alcohol that I could see which surprised me given pubs were about to close.

whiskeyman

Try smaller independent shops and butchers.
I got lots there a few days ago I couldn't get anywhere.

After all the panic buying madness when the announcements were made, things will quieten.

The stores will be open so don't worry about a 'lockdown'.

odyssey06

Lidl and Tesco to implement priority shopping for elderly people and home carers between 9am and 11am
https://www.thejournal.ie/lidl-priority-shopping-elderly-5048008-Mar2020/

The_Brood

City center shops have been cleaned out for the past few days. Many are not heeding government instructions and are stockpiling like idiots. Very frustrating.

Harry Palmr

Stockpiling and other hoarding will end as freezers and vacant cupboard spaces fill up and as dopes spot that grocery shops remain open.

rob316

Own a vape shop and ive never been busier, you think its all stockpiling but people realising your better vaping than smoking if you catch this. Silver linings and all that.

Was shopping in Aldi Sunday morning as i do every week, probably 95% of shelves full, limits on tinned food, pasta, cleaning products, toilet roll and nappies.
Calm enough

TuringBot47

rossie1977 wrote: »

Nobody buying any alcohol that I could see which surprised me given pubs were about to close.

Alcohol depresses the immune system.

And many may realise they may struggle to pay for rent when their bank balance starts to fall if they've no wages coming in.

Sleeper12

Muahahaha wrote:

Just back from Aldi and Dunnes, neither was particularly busy but there was no fresh chicken to be found anywhere. The security guard in Dunnes was at the entrance wiping down customers trollies and basket handles with wet wipes and all the staff were wearing gloves.

I'm not sure if you would be able to get a chicken on any March 16th. Paddy's day is a big roast dinner day for a lot of ireland. I be willing to bet that there will be chicken on the shelves again on Wednesday

odyssey06

There was a bird flu outbreak in the border region - could be affecting chicken and eggs getting onto the shelves.

Thelonious Monk

I've managed to avoid them apart from centra around the corner to get beer, going to cycle up to lidl artane soon and get some stuff, hoping it's not too bad

Andrew76

Tescos Arklow has plenty of empty shelves as of a few minutes ago. Apparently they had deliveries in this morning too. Plenty of greedy ****ers down this way it seems.

storker

odyssey06 wrote: »

There was a bird flu outbreak in the border region - could be affecting chicken and eggs getting onto the shelves.

Ah but which gets there first?

Tesco Wicklow completely cleaned out of every kind of fresh meat. It's ridiculous. This is what happens when people rely on social media for hard information.

dmc17

The ironic thing is, even with closing all the pubs we have all these idiots crammed into the shops together. There is no issue with supply chains, even though people seem to be trying their level best to create one.
If everybody just shopped as they would have done before this situation, there would be much less chance of spreading the virus. People are crammed into the shops because they are afraid of the virus spreading :rolleyes:

freshpopcorn

Locally I found it okay.
I'd describe it at brisk. People are getting a trolley of shopping instead of popping in a few times during the week. Stock levels are okay.
Not much pasta and no flour at the weekend. Lidl had customer quotas on a few things.
Some people are a little over whelmed that people that a family might use a trolley of shopping in a week and they call it panic buying.

sidcon

Andrew76 wrote: »

Tescos Arklow has plenty of empty shelves as of a few minutes ago. Apparently they had deliveries in this morning too. Plenty of greedy ****ers down this way it seems.

As a retailer in the past few days I've visited, tesco, aldi, lidl, dunnes stores, supervalue. I again visited Dunnes stores and tesco today, tesco shelves are shocking, they have not fully restocked since my first visit, Dunnes and Aldi have.

rob316

Aldi anyway from what I've seen are filling the shelves as the stuff comes off, doing a fantastic job. Tesco I was in had nothing the other day.

freshpopcorn

Aldi ware house is looking for temporary staff for two weeks!

FTA69

The supermarkets in parts of London are in a dire state to be honest. Popped into one on the way home and the gaff was bare, and I mean bare.

No meat; three empty aisles. About 3/4 products left; lamb steaks, Clonakilty black pudding and a solitary roast beef with the plastic burst.

No fish. No eggs.

No rice, pasta, cous cous or any staples. Lentils and pulses gone. Nearly all the tines food gone.

90% of the veg gone. Couple of packets of asparagus and brocolli left but most stuff gone.

Cheese aisle massively diminished.

No jacks roll or tissues or anything. Nappies totally gone. Women’s sanitary products all gone.

No cleaning products at all.

It’s not great. Can buy some stuff in the Turkish or Indian markets and most of them are grand to be fair but a minority have been engaging in disgusting price gouging.

neonsofa

freshpopcorn wrote: »

Some people are a little over whelmed that people that a family might use a trolley of shopping in a week and they call it panic buying.

Yeah i was in my local supervalu the other day and a guy is on his phone saying "its madness, everyone in here is panic buying". I had a 2lr of milk in my hand. Guy in front of me had a paper. Couple of people had a basket of shopping, but nothing crazy, just an average shop. The line was just a bit long!

Muahahaha

Certainly seems that the supply chains are struggling to keep up. Fresh meat stocks are flying out the door.

Odelay

neonsofa wrote: »

Yeah i was in my local supervalu the other day and a guy is on his phone saying "its madness, everyone in here is panic buying". I had a 2lr of milk in my hand. Guy in front of me had a paper. Couple of people had a basket of shopping, but nothing crazy, just an average shop. The line was just a bit long!

In Supervalu an hour ago. Lots of meat, 60% normal amount of bread but that is to be expected with the weekend in it. Other than the bread, all of the other shelves had as much a normal on them. Only two checkouts open, neither were busy.

zell12

Aldi, Lidl have a 4 units per product limit
Tesco, Dealz also have a sign saying they have a quota on products

Vectors are still proximity crowding around each other in aisles and checkouts

Galwayguy35

The warehouse where I work supplies Lidl, they are ramping up the orders for the shops over the last few days.

Pallets of bog roll around the place, I'd make a fortune on it if I made off with one.

rossie1977

Supermarket retailers revenues will see big jump in revenue in March if nothing else.

Probably have to start a hiring blitz some to keep up with demand

mathie

Can anyone else book a delivery slot for Tesco online?

Earliest I can get is 27th March!

plodder

Supervalu in Swords (Pavilions) was completely restocked the couple of times I was there the last few days, whereas Tesco was a complete s**t show. Incredible difference, and I have to say the advertising that Supervalu are doing on the radio recently seems to be backed up with action.

appledrop

plodder wrote: »

Supervalu in Swords (Pavilions) was completely restocked the couple of times I was there the last few days, whereas Tesco was a complete s**t show. Incredible difference, and I have to say the advertising that Supervalu are doing on the radio recently seems to be backed up with action.

Dunnes in Pavillions was also really well stocked so if you headed there between two shops you would get everything. I know some people might not be mad about going into shopping centre but trust me apart from these two shops no one in other ones

Sounds like the 1000s of people who purchased chest freezers over the last week (as per DID sales person) have at last filled them.

Leaving aside alcohol based hand wash which is still like hens teeth and dettol which is also in short supply, only thing I really noticed in my SuperValu today were eggs- not one to be found- what’s the story there?
Purchased a dozen last weekend in local greengrocer (one of the few left in Ireland) thank goodness for them) - won’t need any more for another 10 days or so. Just think it’s odd. But nice to see people calming down a bit- it’s a marathon not a race

donglen

Deleted User wrote: »

Sounds like the 1000s of people who purchased chest freezers over the last week (as per DID sales person) have at last filled them.

Leaving aside alcohol based hand wash which is still like hens teeth and dettol which is also in short supply, only thing I really noticed in my SuperValu today were eggs- not one to be found- what’s the story there?
Purchased a dozen last weekend in local greengrocer (one of the few left in Ireland) thank goodness for them) - won’t need any more for another 10 days or so. Just think it’s odd. But nice to see people calming down a bit- it’s a marathon not a race

Was there not a a big kill off of chickens in Monaghan a few days ago due the bird flu? Possibly affected the short-term egg supply?

SweetCaliber

I work in one of the large retailers, bird flu is impacting on eggs and chicken. As for meat at the moment the surge in buying it has put a backlog on the deliveries but they will start returning to normal again soon.

Fresh food is different to ambient, no retailer would of had warehouses full of it in case of a shortage.

tobsey

I think people are being hard on others over panic buying. I don’t think most people stocked up because they thought the shops would run dry. I think they did it in case someone in their house caught it and needed to self isolate. People are actively reducing going out and about so instead of popping to the shops for a few things? They want to get them all in one go. It makes sense to do it that way. There was a mad rush on Thursday and Friday because of the new measures but that will ease. I still think most people will try to do one big shop a week instead of multiple trips.

kravmaga

donglen wrote: »

Was there not a a big kill off of chickens in Monaghan a few days ago due the bird flu? Possibly affected the short-term egg supply?

Did the chickens in Monaghan not get the flu jab?

The ones in Dublin did and they are okay:D

plodder

Not sure you can just tell the hens to lay eggs faster... Just sayin..

freshpopcorn

I feel sorry for people for working in supermarket warehouses. I know a few people who've worked in one and it's hellish on a good day never mind now!

1/3 of our farmers are over 65. Half over 55.

Galwayguy35

tobsey wrote: »

I think people are being hard on others over panic buying. I don’t think most people stocked up because they thought the shops would run dry. I think they did it in case someone in their house caught it and needed to self isolate. People are actively reducing going out and about so instead of popping to the shops for a few things? They want to get them all in one go. It makes sense to do it that way. There was a mad rush on Thursday and Friday because of the new measures but that will ease. I still think most people will try to do one big shop a week instead of multiple trips.

Well unless they thought they would have to remain self isolated for the next 5 years they had no need to buy up all the toilet roll.

Unfortunately we have to put up with idiots like this.

lfen

mathie wrote: »

Can anyone else book a delivery slot for Tesco online?

Earliest I can get is 27th March!

Couldn’t get one myself so went with Supervalu. No chicken though last 3 days.

JBan1984

lfen wrote: »

Couldn’t get one myself so went with Supervalu. No chicken though last 3 days.

Ordered a Tesco online delivery last week and they didnt have half the items in stock when they delivered. Driver advised most people wont get a full order with everyone clearing out the shelves

Balf

Deleted User wrote: »

1/3 of our farmers are over 65. Half over 55.

But, just to be clear, a lot of the small West of Ireland type farms add very little to production, and our agricultural output is concentrated in a few products, and mostly for export.

The security of supply of the food we actually eat depends on our ability to import, as was revealed by assessments made of Brexit impacts.

plodder

tobsey wrote: »

I think people are being hard on others over panic buying. I don’t think most people stocked up because they thought the shops would run dry. I think they did it in case someone in their house caught it and needed to self isolate. People are actively reducing going out and about so instead of popping to the shops for a few things? They want to get them all in one go. It makes sense to do it that way. There was a mad rush on Thursday and Friday because of the new measures but that will ease. I still think most people will try to do one big shop a week instead of multiple trips.

I think the school shutdown coming with less than a day's notice shocked a lot of people. It wasn't surprising at all that people went straight to the shops, and if most people decided to buy an extra bag of pasta and rice, that would clear out the shelves on its own. The toilet roll thing is bizarre though.

Rubberchikken

We buy our meat in our local butchers so no worries there.
Tesco has plenty of toilet paper.

Shops will have enough for everyone so there's no need for panic. Adaptability is the key.

Balf

JBan1984 wrote: »

Ordered a Tesco online delivery last week and they didnt have half the items in stock when they delivered. Driver advised most people wont get a full order with everyone clearing out the shelves

Just back from Aldi. Well stocked, generally. Eggs available, with sign up saying customers are limited to four boxes each, which still seems a lot.

But main message is well stocked, no shortages. Retail workers, on low pay, are doing their bit.

tobsey

plodder wrote: »

I think the school shutdown coming with less than a day's notice shocked a lot of people. It wasn't surprising at all that people went straight to the shops, and if most people decided to buy an extra bag of pasta and rice, that would clear out the shelves on its own. The toilet roll thing is bizarre though.

I agree completely. As soon as it was announced I rang my wife and said get to the shops. We’re a family of 6 and she was planning on doing the weekly shop on Thursday evening. I said go now because everyone else would. Of course she added to the madness then. She had a full trolley of shopping but bought very little extra than she usually would. It probably looked to others like panic buying though.

Cameron326

Anyone know whether Tesco has changed their home delivery process? IE, does the delivery man still come into your house with the crates, or are they now just leaving cardboard boxes outside your door and self signing to avoid close contact? I know that AnPost no longer require a signature for most deliveries.

Feisar

odyssey06 wrote: »

Lidl and Tesco to implement priority shopping for elderly people and home carers between 9am and 11am
https://www.thejournal.ie/lidl-priority-shopping-elderly-5048008-Mar2020/

Ageist pricks!

plodder

tobsey wrote: »

I agree completely. As soon as it was announced I rang my wife and said get to the shops. We’re a family of 6 and she was planning on doing the weekly shop on Thursday evening. I said go now because everyone else would. Of course she added to the madness then. She had a full trolley of shopping but bought very little extra than she usually would. It probably looked to others like panic buying though.

Yep, it's herd behavior but there is nothing irrational about it. I just hope the government is mindful of it when they announce further restrictions.

Thelonious Monk

plodder wrote: »

Yep, it's herd behavior but there is nothing irrational about it. I just hope the government is mindful of it when they announce further restrictions.

It's irrational because food shortages aren't going to happen.

rob316

I've been to the shops a few times in the school closures and the Aldi and Lidl's are putting stock up as quick as its coming down. The hysteria is ridiculous.

Harry Palmr

Are hairdressers and barbers still open?

Harry Palmr

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Are hairdressers and barbers still open?

Most are closed as far as I can see.