Maureen Wallenfang
Appleton Post-Crescent
Published 11:58 AM EDT Mar 12, 2020
Editor’s note: We’re making this story free to all readers as a public service.
Contrary to all the photos on Facebook, there are supplies available in the Fox Cities for necessities.
They just might be in limited quantities or snatched up quickly when deliveries come in.
Residents have been taking coronavirus preparations seriously and began buying supplies in quantity several weeks ago. If they need to quarantine at home for 14 days, they want to be ready.
Hand sanitizers and hand wipes were gone in Grand Chute stores checked Wednesday and Thursday, with the exception of Bath & Body Works in the mall.
With the exception of Costco on Wednesday night, a spot check showed many had toilet paper and anti-bacterial hand soap on their shelves.
No one could say when hand sanitizers and wipes would be back in stock.
How long necessities last on the shelves depends on demand.
Note that there were no visible shortages of food items or paper towels at stores.
Here, a spot check of Grand Chute stores Wednesday night and Thursday morning:
Costco: Plenty of water on hand, but no toilet paper, hand sanitizers, hand wipes or Kirkland baby wipes on Wednesday night. A sign said more paper products are expected Saturday. “Limit 2 per membership per day,” a sign reads where toilet paper is normally stocked. “Everyone is freaking out,” said one employee. An expected shipment of hand soap and hand sanitizers hadn’t arrived by Wednesday evening.
Sam’s Club: On Wednesday, the store had restocked its Northern, Scott and its Member’s Mark house brand of toilet paper. An employee said shoppers had cleaned out the shelves earlier in the week, but this new toilet paper stock came in Wednesday. It had hand soap, but no hand sanitizers.
Woodman’s: The toilet paper aisle was well stocked Wednesday night. It also had plenty of baby wipes and a limited selection of anti-bacterial soap pumps. A pallet of disinfecting wipe bottles was down to its last two. There were no hand wipes or hand sanitizers on the shelves.
Pick ‘n Save: On Thursday morning, the store had toilet paper and hand soap, but no hand wipes or hand sanitizers. Shoppers were stocking up, but didn’t appear rattled.
“I saw the pictures of empty shelves on Facebook. We were almost out of toilet paper, so I thought I should probably go get some,” said Tara Witkowski of Appleton. “We’re a family of five, but I’m not going to hoard it. I appreciate when the stores do limits. I’m going to check on my mom to see if she needs anything.”
Target: On Thursday morning, the mall store had Charmin toilet paper, but no disinfecting surface wipes, hand wipes or hand sanitizers. A worker thought that surface wipes were in a delivery coming today. Shoppers had gallons of bleach and Lysol spray in their carts.
Bath & Body Works: An outgoing message on the store’s phone recording says, “Good news. We do have anti-bacterial PocketBacs and they are on sale.” PocketBacs are one-ounce bottles of hand sanitizer gel in a display that reads “spread love not germs.” They sell for $1.95 or five for $8. The store also sells handsoap, but it is not anti-bacterial.
Contact reporter Maureen Wallenfang at 920-993-7116 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @wallenfang.
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