Some Walmart, Costco, Target stores barred from selling nonessential items

[Ohiogal]

Local governments around the US are starting to take more draconian measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus by banning "essential" stores such as grocery chains or big-box retailers from selling nonessential items such as clothing and electronics.

These stores, which have been allowed to stay open during state lockdowns across the US because they are deemed as "essential" businesses by selling groceries or offering pharmacy services, for example, are now required by law in some parts of the US to remove any nonessential items from their stores or rope off areas of the store so that customers are unable to access these products.

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/some-walmart-costco-target-stores-barred-from-selling-nonessential-items/ar-BB12k907

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Has anyone here been in a big store recently and seen certain items banned from purchase? Or whole sections of the store roped off and closed?

[pandr32]

1. People might need these items

[Mike 03]

3. Especially the work at home folks.

Not everybody has Zoom, for example. I think you need to rig up your computer with a camera and microphone. But that's just one example off the top of my head. I'll bet a lot of people are having to modify their homes slightly.

[Ms. Toad]

13. In most states the tools of communication are essential.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

17. Yes, I can definitely see people needing to buy tech stuff to

help them work from home.

[dalton99a]

29. +1. And kids doing online classes, religious folks attending online services, etc.

[Baitball Blogger]

19. Yup. This stay at home order has resulted in rethinking our entire wardrobe.

Even for us stay at home types.

[Hortensis]

24. :)

[riversedge]

2. vermont--seeds........

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Jamastiene]

6. I wholeheartedly disagree with that decision.

If anything, anyone who wants to start a garden right now should be allowed to. Who knows if the food supply chain will break down? Home gardens might be the difference between going hungry or not. People keep bringing up food banks, but that breaks social distancing and just puts people at more risk. A home garden would not.

[LuckyCharms]

10. +1

[Hortensis]

25. Agree.

[JDC]

30. Agree

[RockCreek]

36. Agree! N/t

[MichMan]

37. Are pentunias, grass seed and mulch essential?

People are bored and making daily trips wandering the aisles browsing

[lagomorph777]

39. Splitting up different kinds of seeds would REALLY smack of micromanagement.

Or nanomanagement.

[MichMan]

41. People are buying flats of flowers. not seeds

[BusyBeingBest]

40. Grass seed and mulch? They can be essential

if you are trying to maintain your yard or grow your own food. Petunias? No, but what's the harm in at least selling them curbside? Somebody earns money by growing those, why waste them?

[grantcart]

44. +1

[BusyBeingBest]

9. Exactly--stupid. Also, I need a new garden hose.

I guess that's non-essential too?

[dalton99a]

26. Well, do you live inside your house or outside?

See, your garden is non-essential. Your lawn is also non-essential

[BusyBeingBest]

34. Lol, and I'm sure all the HOA's out there will see it that way too.

[MLAA]

4. I just placed a Target delivery order and it wouldn't let me add a couple beauty products

to my order.

[Zorro]

5. Slippery slope

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

11. Yeah, I don't like governments deciding what is essential for individuals

as if they know our lives.

[Hortensis]

32. :) Com'on. You agree with Trump and the Republicans that

controlling people's movements during a pandemic is unacceptable government overreach? A cure more dangerous than the disease, a slippery slope to Zorro's LW totalitarianism?

Surely there's a better way to express disagreement with what informed bureaucrats decide should be considered nonessential? And maybe we should assume we don't know everything and wonder what fascinating data and problematic realities might have formed some of these choices?

That said, I didn't bother googling for valid reasons why our whackjob governor DeSantis here in FL would have decided that guns and ammunition are essential. I just emphatically disagree.

[Zorro]

42. Zorro's LW totalitarianism?

Care to explain what you mean?

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

45. I think the poster is saying we're not good Democrats because

we happen to disagree with some of the decisions being made. We should blindly follow and obey. Four legs good, two legs bad and all of that.

[BusyBeingBest]

7. That's fucking stupid. If the stores are open, why do they care what aisle you go down?

Or if they won't let you go down the aisles, why do they care if you do curbside pickup for these items? I order wild birdseed and the like, is that a problem? What if I need caulk, or a wrench, or a thermometer? Needless bureaucratic interference.

[3catwoman3]

8. Wow - this reminds me of the Sunday "Blue Laws"...

...when I was stationed in San Antonio in 1976-77. You could buy food, but not a pot or pan to cook it in, or a dish towel to dry it with after washing up. Whole sections of grocery stores roped off.

Is this to decrease customer traffic?

[BusyBeingBest]

14. The funny/stupid thing is, you can still get everything from other stores--

I can still pick up stuff from Autozone, Tractor Supply, etc. It's the magical/evil mingling of groceries and non-groceries that appear to trip their trigger.

[NewJeffCT]

12. I have not been out since Sunday

but, I did go to my local wal-mart the other day and pet food and other supplies are in the back of the store where I am and the dry cat food I normally get from Amazon had more than doubled in price (a large bag is normally $22-$23 on Amazon and was selling from "other" retailers on amazon for $46-$48) - so, I grabbed a medium sized bag of the dry cat food since they didn't have the large ones.

[Maeve]

15. Definitions are tricky things

The cup-hooks I bought at Walmart may be "nonessential" but they made a big difference in my kitchen and in my mood.(I tend to depression and this lock-down is NOT helping) And those clothes at the store? They are not only important to the people buying, they are going to be a loss to the stores if they can't sell them in season. Electronics? Some of that is needed for folks working from home. Gardening supplies? Plant now or lose the season and lose the food this fall.
If the store is open, the store is open.

[dalton99a]

16. Are they saying you can't buy sewing supplies for mask making at Walmart? Or a replacement mouse

or keyboard? Or stuff for home and car repairs? Toilet plunger? Light bulbs? A/C filters?

This is fucking bullshit

[frazzled]

18. I feel sorry for little kids in VT, CO, and MO

I have two little granddaughters who have birthdays this week and next. I’ll have to celebrate via Skype or Zoom, but I was able to order toys for them. Picked up curbside and delivered curbside. No way should kids have to forego birthday presents from grandma and grandpa. They’re giving up enough already.

[Hekate]

20. Yow. I hope a car battery is deemed essential, because ours just gave up the ghost.

[Quixote1818]

22. Yes, it is. nt

[dalton99a]

23. +1. No car battery, no car, no food.

[Quixote1818]

21. If Walmart can sell them an not other stores that only sell cloths, that would be unfair. nt

[BusyBeingBest]

31. Then the answer is to let smaller businesses that sell non-essential goods

offer buy-online/curbside pickup. Like restaurants are doing. My local plant nursery will fulfill phone orders that can be picked up curbside, for example.

[Quixote1818]

33. Agree. nt

[dawg day]

27. I'm not sure "clothing" is inessential.

If you don't have access to a laundry, you might want a few clean t-shirts and underpants.

We're not all in possession of a stackable washer/dryer.

[Initech]

28. Computers and electronics right now are absolutely essential.

We can't communicate without them, and communication is viable if we are to survive this.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

35. Clothing seems.....essential

One would think? Big screen TVs not so much but then again at a time where people are having to have more virtual interaction with others, it seems like at least some electronics are becoming essential.

[stopdiggin]

38. certainly not in favor of casual shopping

And I don't at all care for the idea that big box stores can sell (and therefore enjoy preferential treatment) while smaller retailers are shuttered. But the idea that the government is aware of every element of our essential needs .... Pretty far-fetched.

electronics -- my phone died (or my laptop), I need it for my (critical) work from home job!
transportation -- my bicycle is my means of transportation -- my tire is flat!
plumbing -- my sink is backed up! -- I need liquid plumber or a cheap snake
clothing -- my work boots (or coveralls) got ruined on the job today -- I can't work without them!
miscellany -- the dog smells like something that's been buried for a long time -- and he's taken to sleeping with the kid -- because the night light in his room quit working -- and one of these three things needs to be replaced -- quick!

And for each of these we've got some bobble-head security guard standing behind a theater rope saying, "Nope, sorry, not essential"? "Please come see us again in .. August, or Sept?"

[eleny]

43. If a fridge or freezer goes out the choice of stores gets narrow