WSJ: Grocers, Retailers Prepare for Surge in Demand as Coronavirus Spreads
U.S. shoppers stock up on dry goods, sanitizer, cleaning supplies
Updated March 1, 2020 4:09 pm ET
“This is like a natural disaster, but it’s an illness,” said Doug Baker, vice president of industry relations at FMI, a trade group for food retailers.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said it has seen greater demand for products including face masks and hand sanitizers at many stores and online. Home Depot Inc. said it had halted online orders for face masks and was limiting purchases at its stores to 10 per customer.
“Our merchandising and supply-chain teams are working hard to replenish these items as quickly as possible whenever inventory runs out in any of our stores,” a Home Depot spokeswoman said.
The masks known as N95 respirators that block 95% of very small particles were out of stock at many stores in the Chicago area over the weekend, as were other basic medical supplies and hand sanitizer.
Some sellers on the e-commerce sites of Amazon.com Inc. and eBay Inc. had set prices for masks and sanitizer well above levels that are typical for those products at U.S. stores and websites.
One Amazon vendor advertised a 12-pack of 8-ounce bottles of Purell hand sanitizer for $129.90, or more than $12 per bottle. Another was selling a two-pack of 8-ounce Purell bottles for $41.95. Average unit price for U.S. hand sanitizers at the end of November was $2.06, according to data provider Nielsen.
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Ms. DeShon, 31, eventually bought the last six organic hand sanitizers from the baby section at a Target store.
“I have super bad anxiety around health and I’m a germaphobe,” Ms. DeShon said. “This is basically the worst thing that can happen mentally.”
This article wasn't behind the paywall at first, but now I'm having trouble accessing it. It might be behind the paywall after all.
More at link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/grocers-prepare-for-surge-in-demand-as-coronavirus-spreads-11583004925
That price gouging for masks is outrageous, particularly because experts are advising healthy people not to buy or wear them.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I ran my errands today. Every store was like .... it was a blend of Christmas Eve and the day before a blizzard hits. Packed, people seemed on edge, rushed, bare shelves.
Target - I needed bleach for a very stubborn area way up high in my shower. Nope. No bleach at all in Target. Completely bare shelves. A lot of cleaning products were picked over. Grocery section was a mad house. All out of cart wipes.
Wegman's - typical day before a blizzard scenario. Bare shelves for some products. I noticed a lot of people with cases and water and the large packs of toilet paper. Out of cart wipes on one entrance side. The available cart wipes were surrounded by people.
Trader Joe's - utterly homicidal. Nearly out of cases of water. Granola bars very picked over. A lot of freezer goods were out. Cart wipes were shocked, though. They were giving out samples of orange slices - for the Vitamin C, she said.
Whole Foods - also crazy. They are 100% out of hand sanitizer. I noticed the supplements aisle was packed with people.
Costco - this was the worst of it all. I usually do Costco on Saturdays and Sundays and I'm used to it being busy, but this was next level. The parking lot was a madhouse. When I walked in there were only 7 carts left. There was a line to get into the store because they had employees personally spraying and wiping each cart handle. There was another cart at the entrance filled with reusable towels and disinfectant waiting to be switched out. Once in the store it was pretty much Mad Max Thunderdome. All I wanted was Palmiers. 
Several employees had disinfectant bottles and reusable towels. The electronics guy was trying to wipe down display computers and phones - so many fingers touch those. Most employees had gloves. I took note of people's carts. A lot of people had stacks of Lysol Spray packages. Many people had cases - usually multiple - of water and cases of toilet paper. Oddly, the refrigerated and frozen meat section was nearly wiped out. I guess we give up on going Vegan during a pandemic. Overall, a lot of carts with water, disinfectant supplies, and toilet paper. It was intense. Very few sample stations today, which is odd. I was amused that everyone is in a pandemic panic, so they are doing everything to get themselves in large crowds of people. One area that was totally empty? The bathrooms. Everyone is stocked up on Lysol, but no one is washing hands. The energy in that store was very frazzled.
I eventually wandered into a small chain grocery store to buy a teeny bottle of Clorox.
