Wearing blue latex gloves, Lyna Tan grabbed another can of sardines off the shelf at the Hong Kong Market Place in North Dallas. Her shopping cart already had about 20 others, along with four 26-ounce canisters of iodized salt. On Friday, she bought 10 cases of water.
Tan, 63, is preparing about two months’ worth of supplies in case her family would eventually need to isolate themselves to contain the spread of coronavirus. The Richardson resident owns a liquor store in Dallas, where she’s exposed to the public every day, and has considered closing down her business for a couple weeks.
But the Cambodian immigrant said she is comforted by her trust in the government. She believes local officials will take necessary steps to protect the general population and provide accurate public information.
Tan said she still has family back in Phnom Penh, and she doesn’t know if they’ll be safe.
“Right now, it looks scary. I hope the government has more plans to help the people,” Tan said of the U.S. crisis. “We don’t need to panic too much. ... Everything will be OK.”
In Dallas, shoppers citywide have raided shelves at grocery stores of toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap, latex gloves, water, bleach, cold medicine, frozen pizzas, pasta, ramen noodles, bread, rice, beans, milk and flour. At grocery stores in East Dallas, fresh chicken and beef were in short supply. Lines were running long Saturday as shoppers continued to stock up on supplies.
As of Saturday afternoon, Dallas County counted two more “presumptive positive” cases of coronavirus, totaling 11 cases. The county’s lab has tested 59 people of the virus as of Friday afternoon, officials told the mayor’s office.
A rush for potential ‘lockdown’
Employees at Sprouts Farmers Market grocery store in East Dallas said the big rush came Friday.
A line had formed outside before doors opened at 7 a.m., and checkout lines stretched to the back of the store most of the day. Saturday was calmer, but shoppers were waiting outside again before the store opened, they said.
Saturday morning, boxed cereal and baked goods were picked over. Anyone wanting bagels was out of luck. Deli staff were slicing more cold cuts because Friday’s supply had been cleaned out.
Over in produce, sturdy items were in short supply. Onions were low, potatoes gone except for a few bruised sweet potatoes and a single lonely yam. A truck with more was said to be arriving by Sunday.
Some shoppers wore masks as a precaution, whether to protect elderly family members or to shield others from their coughs or sneezes.
Others were less concerned. In Pleasant Grove, 21-year-old Jasmine Colmenero, who is three months pregnant and has a 4-year-old child, discussed with another shopper the “overreaction” to the coronavirus outbreak. But she’s still stocked up on supplies for two to three weeks in case they were ordered to stay in their homes.
“If it happens, it happens. If we get put on lockdown, I think I have enough food … and enough water bottles and bleach and hand sanitizer," Colmenero said. “I just think it’s an overreaction and a distraction for the government."
Mary Warren, a 69-year-old Pleasant Grove resident, said she’s not worried about it. She can’t control whether the virus spreads, she said, and already takes precautions to protect herself from disease.
“I keep my faith and trust in the Lord,” Warren said.
In Richardson, the Tom Thumb store at Coit and Campbell roads was as busy Saturday morning as in the run-up to major holidays. Checkout lines were four to six carts deep, with baskets full but not overflowing and customers comparing notes on the COVID-19 emergency while they waited.
Shelves and produce were being restocked, but signs of panic buying were easy to find.
Supplies of toilet paper, tissues and wet wipes were depleted except for a few small tissue boxes -- until a man came by, got on his tip-toes and managed to snag them from the back of the shelf.
Pasta and sauces had been picked over, with only specialty types like whole wheat and gluten-free remaining. Bread, tortillas, broth, potato chips and other snacks, and bagged salads were among items in low supply.
Supply and demand
Walmart, Target and other national retail and grocery chains have limited purchase quantities on high-demand items like hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, toilet paper, bottled water and cold medicines. But that hasn’t stopped stores from selling out quickly.
“We have a lot of categories that have seen extraordinary growth levels the last few weeks,” Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner said in a message to employees Friday. “It started in over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, then consumables, and now it’s moving into our food businesses.”
The rush on supplies is similar to what happens with a hurricane or snowstorm, but in the case of the new coronavirus, it’s happening on a global scale, said Venky Shankar, a professor and director of research at Texas A&M’s School of Retail Studies.
Even the largest retailers, such as Amazon, are unable to keep a steady stock of hand sanitizer and toilet paper, he said.
“The thing that is different is that people are very uncertain about what to do,” Shankar said. “And the initial panic is higher."
The sudden shortage of grocery and household supplies also shows how efficient the global supply chain has become. A region such as Texas, where grocery stores and warehouses usually have only a few weeks’ worth of supplies on hand, have come to depend on being constantly replenished.
“We’ve been praising our just-in-time supply chain,” Shankar said. “But it might be showing its weakness.”
State officials have rushed to address the potential for price gouging, warning retailers that increasing the prices on high-demand products is illegal during emergency situations.
Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday declared a state of disaster over the COVID-19 crisis. Stores that artificially raise prices during a state of emergency could be fined $10,000 for each violation.
“My office will work aggressively to prevent disaster scams and stands ready to prosecute any price-gouger who takes advantage of those taking precautions and looking for safety and supplies," Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a prepared statement.
As with hurricanes and snowstorms, even though the demand for groceries and household products spikes in a matter of days during a pandemic like COVID-19, overall consumption stays the same, said Steve Kirn, a retail consultant and former faculty member at the University of Florida.
Unlike natural disasters, though, there isn’t a clear plan for what consumers should stock up on, Kirn said. Usually, sales increase in categories like batteries and bottled water, things that might be needed during a loss of power. That kind of consumer behavior, he said, might be irrational -- and temporary.
“There are some shortages right now, but there is nothing to show that this is going to be a long-term problem,” Kirn said.
Staff writers Sue Ambrose and Leslie Snyder contributed to this report.
