Several stores limiting purchases of certain items due to supply chain issues
PHILADELPHIA - Early pandemic panic buying seems to be heating up at area grocery stores. If you’ve been to the supermarket these days chances are you have seen shelves picked clean like a day before a snowstorm.
Shopper Tim Olson is like many shoppers these days noticing shortages from pet food to energy drinks.
"Paper towels and a number of normal things we usually get are not there. There’s lots of stuff that’s limited. We actually tried to buy a car yesterday and car inventory is way down," says Tim Olson, of Ardmore.
Giant grocery stores have begun posting signs informing customers of limits on toilet paper and paper towels. Tuesday night, the Giant store in Wynnewood was nearly bare of both products.
But unlike last year, the shortages have less to do with COVID and more to do with a volatile supply chain. Disruptions have been caused by a labor shortage affecting shipping nationwide.
It recently forced bulk retailer COSTCO to limit toilet paper, paper towels, water and some cleaning supplies. Anticipating delays into 2022 the company announced it will be renting cargo ships to bring products from Asia to North America early next year.
Retailers say they are putting limits on products now to make sure they don’t run out of critical items.
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