Sunday, October 16, 2022

My Personal "Boots on the Ground" Observations

By Tim Gamble  10-16-2022

As SouthernPrepper1 continues his "Boots on the Ground" series on his You Tube channel (link: https://www.youtube.com/user/southernprepper1), I will occasionally post on this website my own personal observations of what I am seeing and experiencing in my area (small town in western North Carolina).

React To Overall Trends, Not Isolated Incidences. 

In reading my reports, watching SP1's reports, or making your own observations, what you are trying to identify are overall trends, not isolated incidences. For example, there are probably 101 legitimate reasons why a particular store may be out of a particular item. But if all the stores in your area are out of that same item, and you hear of other stores around the country being out of that item, than you have identified a trend. React to trends, not incidences. 

Gasoline

When I filled up my gas tank on Friday, I paid $3.49 a gallon at the station which is typically the cheapest in my area. Gas in my area is usually less than the national average.

Sam's Club Trip

Last week I went to a Sam's Club. My first impression was the store was well stocked, especially the clothing section. The tables were stacked higher with clothing than I have ever seen before. They had also added a couple of additional tables of clothing since my last visit there. Also, toilet tissue and paper towels seemed well stocked at the moment (but expect this to possibly change in the next couple of months). 

Most of my shopping was in the food aisles, where I found a lot of items on my shopping list to be out of stock. Duke's mayonnaise, frozen salmon patties, dried black beans, dried pinto beans, green tea, and vinegar, all items I normally buy at Sam's Club, were completely out of stock. Peanut butter was almost completely gone, with less than a dozen 2-packs left on the shelf. The only bags of rice that they had in stock was Jasmine rice, with maybe a dozen bags left on the pallet. 

Checking out was a nightmare. The store was extremely busy, but they had only two cashiers working, and 4 (four!) of the self check out lanes were closed with "out of order" signs on them. This meant very long lines. 

My Aldi's Trip

I've already posted about the price cut on mushrooms at my local Aldi's (click here). Now I want to report on what was low or out of stock. Sugar was completely out stock, and cereal, canned meats, and canned beans were all extremely low, with lots of gaps on those shelves.

Walmart Superstore

I was at a Walmart Superstore last week. The fresh produce, frozen foods, canned meats, and boxed pastas sections were all half-full at best. They have even removed a couple of the produce tables to make that area look fuller than what it really is. Other food sections seemed mostly well-stocked. 

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