Bethesda grocery shoppers are finding some departments with understocked or bare shelves as the new week begins. Produce, meat and bread are among the aisles most affected. These photos were taken at Harris Teeter in downtown Bethesda.
Trader Joe's in downtown Bethesda and Giant at Georgetown Square were having similar issues yesterday, but they were not the only ones countywide. The general explanation at the stores is that trucks coming up 1-95 from Virginia and coming south from Pennsylvania did not arrive on schedule. However, the I-95 disaster was nearly a week ago, and I can find no highway closure reported in Pennsylvania over the last week.
There may be staffing and driver availability issues related to the omicron surge. It's a fact that home grocery delivery schedules have been impacted over the last 10 days, a totally separate issue from inventory. When a product is out of stock, the rest of your order is still delivered to your house. When deliveries are canceled or delivery times are not available, that is a lack-of-drivers issue.
Above all, don't panic yet. The stores are expecting the trucks to arrive soon, and there is still adequate merchandise available if you are flexible. As you can see here, if you need a loaf of bread, there's likely going to be some brand available. Harris Teeter still had plenty of duck and quail eggs on hand!
7 comments:
Nowhere do you mention the effect of the omicron version of the Covid virus on the retail industry. Due to this version of the virus many workers, drivers, factory workers, etc. are out sick in large numbers, which contributes to the cause of empty shelves.
But no mean Tweets....
In Biden's America. What a way to begin the new year.
7:20: I mentioned it right there in the third paragraph, which is all about omicron.
It also snowed twice this week. Aside from the Covid surge, this happens everytime there's a storm.
I was at the Harris Teeter and the downtown Bethesda Giant yesterday, and the photo of the empty shelves with the signs for Perdue brand chicken seems to me to have been taken at Giant, not HT. The refrigerated cases for milk were also largely empty at Giant.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/01/11/grocery-store-empty-shelves-again/
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