What shortages?

[OhZone]

OHNOES! I keep hearing that there are supply chain shortages, but, so far, I'm not seeing it at all at the Jersey shore.

Grocery stores fully stocked.

Dollar Stores fully stocked.

Makeup and cosmetic spots good.

My favorite clothing outlets OK.

Maybe it's regional thing?

What is short in your region?

[AZSkiffyGeek]

1. Lots of weird miscellaneous grocery items in Phoenix

Staples are good, paper products are still good, but odd individual snack foods and such are out.
Better Cheddars
Sprite Zero 12 packs (2 liters seem okay for now)
Eggo Waffles
Misc. flavors of Gatorade
Misc. Quest Protein Bars

I've noticed that meat and dairy prices are going up as well.

I'm a project manager for an ISP supervising fiber Internet deployments. A lot of the equipment we use for our deployments is out of stock, or running around 12 weeks behind as well. Stuff held at the border due to a lack of drivers to take it to our warehouses.

[TrunKated]

10. I was going to say Quest bars, but...

I read Atkins bought them so I figured that had something to do with it, and then I found a bunch of the ones I like at Walmart anyway.

[zuul]

14. Same in New Orleans . . weird miscellaneous grocery items.

[StarryNite]

25. I've noticed the same thing in the north valley.

Particularly at the Fry's I shop at. Just odd things not on the shelves. For several weeks it was the plain seltzer water that wasn't available. Also some of the lunch meat that I normally buy and the turkey bacon were not available. I'm wondering if there will be frozen turkeys in for Thanksgiving. Few customers wearing masks. Few employees wearing masks. The store looks dirty. It's still shocking to me that the Walmart up the road seems far cleaner. All the employees wearing masks and the majority of the customers wearing masks. At least early in the morning when I go in.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

28. I've avoided Fry's the whole pandemic

Always felt dirtier and less concerned about masking. I've been using Albertson's, Basha's and WalMart Grocery. All are cleaner, and all have different things they are out of stock on.

[StarryNite]

37. I have a couple of Safeways close by that I need to check out.

Sprouts is okay but of course not near the selection of the larger stores. Oh, and Costco, we go there about every other week. The product line I like from Fry's is Simple Truth.

[luvs2sing]

2. I was in a Walgreens last week..

that literally looked like it was in the final days of a going out of business sale. This was in an upscale neighborhood which made it more surprising. I haven’t seen many shortages, but I also don’t do a lot of shopping in stores right now. The supermarkets are well stocked in my community. Even the Walgreens nearest me has always been well stocked. The Target nearest me has been poorly stocked for about three years now. They obviously have bigger problems.

I’m in Columbus, Ohio.

Adding..Frito-Lay products have been in short supply, but that’s probably because of the strike.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

31. The Walgreen's by me has NOTHING for Halloween

And they haven't since August. A few bags of candy, but no costumes or decorations.

[luvs2sing]

33. This one was pretty much the same.

[leftieNanner]

3. Paint

I am trying to get the exterior of my house painted - wanted it done before it got cold and wet, but whatever - and it's hard to get what is needed. I tried to buy a quart sample for my front door color and they don't have the base color.

I may have the painter purchase the paint now and store it (in my garage, if necessary) so that it's ready for next spring.

[Siwsan]

4. Canned cat food is the only thing I've noticed

When I was at a Meijer store, their shelves were pretty much empty of the canned food. No problem with the dry. The locally owned pet store I shop said they were also not getting deliveries on schedule. I've stocked up on canned kitten food. I can figure out how to make something for Sophie but the kittens need certain nutrients so I'm kind of fussy about feeding them the appropriate kind of food.

[Vinca]

11. Check out Chewy. I finally gave up on the grocery store for wet cat food.

I'm seriously impressed with Chewy. Their delivery time is ridiculously fast and the prices are comparable to what we pay in my neck of the woods.

[Siwsan]

18. I'm going to do that.

I know I'll be feeding these little beasties kitten food for another 4 or 5 months, minimum.

[spinbaby]

43. Chewy is out of some things, too

I’ve taken to ordering some kinds of cat food from both Chewy and Amazon, plus I grab it whenever I see it in the store. With eight hungry kitties, it’s best to be overstocked.

Our local stores have had weird shortages—lunch meat, romaine lettuce, cream…

[gojoe12]

5. have you done any

online shopping? I'm still waiting for clothes to arrive and it's been almost 2 months. Certain food items seem to be gone but today isn't the problem because we are still using items that were locally stored. If you haven't felt the effects yet you will shortly and it is going to get worse before it gets better. That's what I've been reading

[OhZone]

23. Been lucky with that too, except one item.

They never shipped it. And I got refunded.

[johnp3907]

6. I work at a Whole Foods in Pittsburgh.

I’m in the cheese department, and we keep running out of staples like shredded sharp cheddar and Mexican blend. I’m on my break right now, and on my way to the break room our grocery manager told me the distributor doesn’t have enough staff and that he can only order about half of what he needs.

[spinbaby]

44. You were out of vampire slayer!

I always pick up vampire slayer cheese when I’m at Whole Foods and last time they didn’t have any. I’m traumatized.

[johnp3907]

64. Yeah, that's a rough one.

Brace yourself: Not sure it’s coming back any time soon.

[unblock]

7. The biggest problems are in Long Beach, California, so the biggest shortages are on the west coast

But port Elizabeth is starting to pick up the slack so... it's coming...

[tulipsandroses]

8. I don't see a shortage of personal goods but seeing big increase in prices

There does seem to be a shortage on bigger ticket items like furniture. My parents ordered a couch several months ago, it still has not arrived. I went to AT Home Store last week and was shocked at how little they had. I used to get lost for hours in there.

[OhZone]

17. We ordered furniture like a year ago -

and it did take months to arrive.

But that's not a recent thin.

[Demsrule86]

55. I ordered furniture from Ashley...giant couch I call it...sectional with two motion recliner and one

manual recliner...really comfortable, two end tables too...everything came within two weeks except the corner piece that held drinks...but it was too big anyway so I cancelled it and brought some nice lamps and pillows and a clock.

[unc70]

45. Furniture problems with their suppliers

Foam for cushions, pillows, etc. suppliers damaged and disrupted by storms and such down in Texas. NC furniture manufacturers are backlogged, and they are sitting on months worth of almost completed sofas, chairs, ... waiting on stuffing.

[Runningdawg]

9. What I am seeing in Tulsa

$ stores and discount clothing stores don't have any socks. Make up, health and beauty wiped out at outlets like Target, Walgreens, Walmart. Sally's Beauty and the barber supply was stocked Ulta looked good too, but prices have gone up at all. My stylist raised the price of a hair cut from $20 to $30 because she no longer stacks clients 3 deep but I'm sticking with her for now.

[tblue37]

12. Fancy Feast wet cat food.

[XanaDUer2]

63. this

the cat is pissed

[Wingus Dingus]

78. Yes, it's spotty availability with the Fancy Feast since the pandemic began.

I don't get it.

[Raine]

79. My cat loves Fancy Feast and I never know if I'll find it or not

I'm going to have one very unhappy and mad cat if I can't get it. 😾

[MissB]

81. I've bought it from Amazon

They usually deliver it to me the next day. My kitty loves their salmon pate, and no other flavor. Or brand.

But I can get a case of 24 off Amazon. It’s a bit more than the cost at Safeway on sale, but they actually deliver it to my house.

[Vinca]

13. Last Thursday when I went grocery shopping I noticed the toilet paper shelves were empty again.

I hope this is a blip, but I'm glad I've been stocking up over the past several months for just this eventuality.

[OhZone]

19. I'm still stocked up from a year and a half ago for paper products. ha

Even have reams of copy paper from before the pandemic because - sale.

[beaglelover]

15. I'm in L.A. We ordered major appliances for our kitchen remodel in early June. Nothing has come in

yet which is fine as we're not starting the remodel until later this month. I'm hoping everything will be in by the time we need them.

Also, last month while remodeling our guest bathroom Dunn Edwards was out of paint! But they got some in after a few days. Just so weird to walk in there and be told they're out of paint! LOL!

[Demsrule86]

56. Did you by chance order Maytag and/or Samsung...I heard there are big delays...I ordered a new

gas stove (GE) and it is taking two weeks...supposed to come tomorrow.

[beaglelover]

74. No, they are all GE appliances.

[bucolic_frolic]

16. There are just seasonal runs on items that echo March 2020.

WW flour, cooking oil. But whereas back then I didn't see replacements til August, now it's a week or so.

What I see tight supply in is shoes. Poor selection in several stores of many brands. It's like they're liquidating the last 12 months. Casual dress shoes absent altogether. Few shoe stores other than FFootwear which pushes it's owned brands, DSW which I find carries unpopular styles mostly. Shoe Carnival is ok though the selection is small. I don't like to shop for shoes online because of sizing. The world has attempted to cross-reference the 3 regional sizing systems, and it's not always a perfect fit. Moreover narrow toe is now the popular style. Few brands offer parallel wide sizes.

[paleotn]

20. None that I'm aware of. Northern New England.

In fact, we're doing way better than Spring 2020.

[GoCubsGo]

21. It's been spotty around here.

It's hard to say how much of that is due to some kind of shortage, and how much of it is the usual inability to put the stock out before the shoppers arrive, that plagues every store in my town. There's also the usual discontinuing of items and bringing in new stuff, which always leaves empty shelves, even in the best of times. I haven't been in the dollar store lately, but the last time I was there, shelves were empty, but the aisles were full of boxes of stuff. It's frequently like that, which is one of the reasons I tend to avoid the place.

[Brainfodder]

22. Trying to get people spending?

GREED

[ProfessorGAC]

24. Not Much

One popular item of note are the sports drinks.
The supermarket I go to most often usually has all shelves full, front to back, except no Gatorade or Powerade. Weird.
But, I seldom see short stock at either store unless it's something like ice cream near the end of a super sale. (E.G. - One store was selling 48 oz. cartons of Dean's ice cream two for 5 bucks.)
We do, however, live very near warehouse central for the Chicago market. 50-60 enormous warehouses (1.2 - 3 million square feet) and 3 intermodal facilities. Half of those are within 10 miles of our house.
People more distant may be having shortages we don't see.

[Earth-shine]

26. Computer chips are in short supply driving up the cost of such things as automobiles.

Before the pandemic, the graphics card I wanted was $200. Now, it's $500. Supply vs. demand.

[TrunKated]

32. that reminds me of that flood from a few years back ...

in Indonesia I think.

it hit hard drive prices to the point where the constant price drops stopped.

I think hard drives are still a little pricier than they should be...

[underpants]

54. Fire and draught

Fire and draught.

Talking to computer supply companies and audio visual contractors it appears two factors created the problem. More than COVID. There are three main chip producers in China. One had a fire which didn’t shut them down but greatly decreased production. There is also a draught in the area that at least one of these plants are located. Apparently it takes a tremendous amount of water to make chips and water usage has been restricted.

This info comes from conversations while I’m trying to find laptops and contracting for a new lobby monitor display.

Not really related but it also takes 20,000 liters of water to make a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

The other problem with laptops is sand. The third most used component after air and water in general. Worldwide construction (concrete) is about equivalent to building a New York City every year. The glass for the monitors requires a very specific kind of round sand. Mostly harvested from river beds. Countries and localities have put restrictions on this sand for environmental and controlling supply ($) reasons. This effects TV monitors as well. Every other part of computer equipment has caught up to the pandemic rush for at home items like cameras except laptops. I had a sales person find 20+ laptops in inventory to fill our need earlier this year. Seriously scrounging. The contract for our lobby display was finished in August but they don’t expect to get the monitors until December at the earliest.

[Klaralven]

67. Graphics cards are in short supply because bitcoin miners are buying up the GPUs

[Earth-shine]

69. Why can't they just make more to meet the demand?

Supply chain and manufacturing issues with silicon-based chips.

[Klaralven]

75. GPUs are made on the processes that produce the smallest transistors

New multi-billion dollar foundaries can't be built faster than the latest model production equipment can be built. That can't be built any faster than the capital equipment manufacturers can expand their manufacturing systems.

There are multiple layers of capital equipment vendors that have to expand capacity.

[Earth-shine]

77. In other words, we have a shortage of computer chips.

[Klaralven]

85. Inside the GPU Shortage: Why You Still Can't Buy a Graphics Card

https://www.pcmag.com/news/inside-the-gpu-shortage-why-you-still-cant-buy-a-graphics-card

The GPU has excess demand problems. I don't think the supply has decreased much, if at all.

[mwooldri]

27. I haul glass. Big sheets of glass.

The smallest size I haul is 96" X 130" biggest is 130" X 240"... These get turned into windows or shower/bath enclosures or anything you can think of that has sheet glass involved. I'm being run ragged. I gotten roped in to fill in on a contract job over the summer in NY State, I did OK enough that my employer offered me a contract (dedicated) job way closer to home. I get to be home most weekends. But we're still being run ragged.

Plus I'm being headhunted. A fricking truck driver, being headhunted. I'm no fancy businessperson; I didn't complete my business degree (family, other life gets in the way)...

Basically there's a shortage of blue collar workers, and anything blue collar workers are involved with are affected. Yep, so I'm getting something other than Gatorade at the supermarket (that's the most obvious shortage I've seen). Some chips are short (yes there are chips but not necessarily the brand I want or flavour I want). Some sandwich meats are short - generally it's brands and selection, not that there isn't any (there is) - the depth and breadth of choice isn't there. To summarize things: you can get what you need, but not necessarily what you want.

If you're not seeing the shortages, lucky you. They exist. Be thankful we're not in the UK - it's worse there because the eastern EU workers left when Covid struck and have zero incentive to come back... leaving the indigenous British population trying to figure out what to do.

[KentuckyWoman]

59. I hope the shortages translate into better money for you.

And thank you for being out on the road. It is a hard life and people don't realize where we'd be without truckers.

[Javaman]

29. I work in the Architectural/construction industry. yes, there are shortages

and delays on materials for plumbing, mech, electrical and interiors for up to 6 months or more.

wood has calmed down quite a bit, but cold framing is still a hit or miss.

[joetheman]

30. Also, except for gasoline and other energy inflation is not as bad as the media is reporting.

Real estate is high but primarily in the wealthy areas...let the greedies have at it. I just left the super market and almost everything is marked down. Meat is not moving so they drastically reduced prices on beef and pork (except for bacon). Canned goods are still higher than pre-pandemic but really off their highs of a few months ago.

It the inflation cry another one of the setups by the GOP to harm Biden and the Dems? Just wondering.

[OhZone]

38. That's what I'm thinking -

it's partly an exaggeration to attack Biden.

I mean, an "Independent" facebook friend shared a meme that started out with a lie, about Dollar Tree going to 3, 4, or 5$.


I heard they might go to 1.25 or 1.50 for some items, JUST LIKE Dollar Zone and Mall stores did years ago, but it really pissed me off.

It's not like Dollar Tree to become Family Dollar or Dollar General, which are NOT Dollar stores to begin with.

Oh well.

[Ms. Toad]

34. Coins (Sheetz)

For weeks they have had signs posted that due to the coin shortage all they have is pennies. Funny how no other store is experiencing a coin shortage. Personally, I think they are trying to annoy the heck out of you so you just give them the spare changes.

Dollar General has pretty bare shelves. They remodeled, but their shelvse are pretty bare, even in sections that existed pre-remodel.

[Sherman A1]

35. Toilet paper at Costco

Gatorade, Powerade at the grocery store today.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

42. I noticed that Costco had pulled the Kirkland TP from their online shop nt

[Generic Brad]

36. I'm seeing weird shortages

No seafood or chocolate bars in my local Aldi's. Nearly empty rows of chips in store after store. I can't find shredded swiss cheese or hash brown patties anywhere.

[Mr.Bill]

65. All of those could be due to simply

a merchandiser who is out sick with Covid or self quarantining for awhile.

[Sucha NastyWoman]

39. We have an oversupply

Of thinking we need so much stuff.

[OhZone]

40. Truth

[llmart]

86. +1000

The horrors of doing without your particular brand of potato chips. Egads! What is this country coming to? I NEED 100 different varieties of breakfast cereal in my store.

[OhZone]

41. I'm beginning to think I'm really lucky to live in NJ.

Maybe Port Newark - FTW?

[BumRushDaShow]

48. The first threat of a nor'easter or snow storm will wipe the stores out up there

[OhZone]

53. Ha! Yeah, that always happens. True.

[BumRushDaShow]

57. And what might happen

is that the warehouses may have started to empty by then so a number of items won't be restocked for awhile. Many manufacturers were still fixated on their "just in time" business model so they could minimize the excess being stored. But the past year showed the single point of failure result that happened with that.

A couple months ago I finally started seeing those plastic canisters of Chlorox wipes casually sitting on the shelves at my local Acme after being missing for well over a year.

[NutmegYankee]

80. The wipes were intentionally left off shelves for a much of 2020.

The cloth for the wipes was diverted to mask production. Chlorox had declared they wouldn’t start making them again until 2021.

[BumRushDaShow]

84. Well I remember last year seeing reports

where they (along with Lysol) "claimed" they would have things "back in stock" during the "summer/early fall of 2020". The reality became like a "lottery" to see if a few cans became available - either in the store or online - only to disappear within minutes.

The same applied for bottles of Chlorox (brand) too - now on the shelves in a reasonable quantity, but only recently.

[obamanut2012]

91. No issues with buying any of that stuff for a year or so

[obamanut2012]

90. Same for being in SOFL

No issues with stuff -- Port Miami?

[Raftergirl]

46. We ordered a whole house generator last February.

It was finally shipped a few weeks ago and it is getting installed this week.

Our favorite restaurant was out of Buffalo wings a few weeks ago, and they told me supply chain issues. But our market had wings but none left that were prepared. The food court guy offered to make us the two dozen we wanted.

[MissB]

66. Question

Natural gas or diesel fuel? Did you power your entire panel or just 75% of it?

[Raftergirl]

72. Natural gas.

Yes, whole panel will be powered.

[Lancero]

47. Mostly meat and dairy in short supply here, though given the extreme environmental impact...

That those products have, a long term shortage of that is more of a benefit than anything. Maybe a meat shortage will cure some peoples blood fetish and push them towards adopting healthier diets both for themselves and the planet.

[GPV]

50. Maine has a lot of empty shelves

[Tomconroy]

51. For some weird reason Crest toothpaste in Walgreens.

The inevitable paper towel and bath tissue that always seems to happen. On Sundays I treat my wife and get pickup from the local coffee shop. 2 bacon egg and cheeses on toasted croissants plus two coffees. Jumped from 16 and change to 19+ in the space of a month. Haven't told the wife yet.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

52. Random stuff

Less variety of stuff as well. Like my wife and I like keeping Campbells Chunky soups stocked. They quick to make for a easy meal when we are running around. She did her weekly shopping run last Thursday and the selection was down significantly. Toilet paper, paper towels, napkins and kleenex were in stock, but not as well as it was before. I was in Aldi this past weekend and the shelves weren't bare, but they weren't full either.

That said, its going to get worse according to a couple people I know who work in the trucking industry and shipping industry. Not enough drivers and now some areas are running into a lack of trucks. Trucks are going down for maintenance and repairs but the parts are not available. According to the one, its starting to turn into a feedback loop, trucks are broke and don't have the parts they need to be fixed, and the parts can't get out to where they need to go because there aren't enough trucks or drivers. He knows of one regional trucking company that has 40% of their trucks down because they can't get them fixed. The other guy works for one of the national shipping companies that everyone uses for personal deliveries. They are starting to get pulled into hauling stuff in their normal smaller trucks that would have been shipped as a full truckload by a semi. This is causing two problems, one its causing delays to their normal consumer shipping, and two, its causing prices to rise for the goods they are shipping because its a lot more expensive to break up a bulk truckload shipment. Both have been recommending to family and friends to stock up a little on essentials and to starting buying and ordering Christmas gifts now as they think things are going to worsen over the next couple months.

[Ilsa]

58. Various food and sundries unavailable in several storess where

I shop in Georgia. Chipotle has outages of several foods that are ingredients in my favorite dishes.

The grocery stores don't have grandma's favorite brand in her size of Depends. Shelves look picked over on some aisles.

[happybird]

60. We are having major issues with frozen foods at work

Appetizer stuff- fries, corn fritters, onion products (we are now on “onion straws” after the onion ring supply was gone, and we turned to onion rings when our usual onion petals went out of stock about 4-6 weeks ago. And no chicken wings (the little, separate flats and drums. Regular, full-sized chicken wings seem to be in ok supply).

Don’t even get me started on the enormous rise in seafood prices. We’ve (temporarily) stopped carrying a few items because they have become so ridiculously expensive.



Edit to Add: I’ve seen some of the shortages others have noticed. The Dollar General looked picked over by locusts when I was in last week. Went in with a sizable list and left with only 4 or 5 items. Many of the shelves were bare.

The local Giant spreads extra items/overstock out on the shelves so you don’t notice they are missing many items. You notice when you are trying to find something and realize there are three shelves filled with the same 5lb bags of rice. Or the whole hotdog section is full but, at a second glance, you notice it’s only one brand of hotdogs filling the entire case.

[Groundhawg]

61. undermount sinks, contact cement, Trucks, Dr pepper, Hatch Jalapeno's quite a few things.

[XanaDUer2]

62. There were 2 idaho potatoes at the store

where there is usually a huge pile. Empty catfood shelves.

Frozen foods seem short.

Weird

[Shrike47]

68. Lots of empty shelves in Eugene, Oregon.

Rite-Aid pharmacy (I think Walgreen’s owns them now), no shampoo of the kind I buy, for months. They do have a space on the shelf for it. Gaps in lunch meats, some cleaning supplies at the Safeway, and choices way down in paper products.

I recently was running to various stores trying to find Gold Bond powder, for goodness sake. Annoying shortages everywhere.

[FakeNoose]

70. The cost of gasoline and other fuels are making everything more expensive

I think that's part of it. The shortages are partly because people don't want to pay higher prices. So some are going without while others are shopping at the discount stores instead of the "regular" retail.

I'm retired now and I'm no longer commuting. I only buy one tank of gas per month, rather than one per week, like I used to. It's scary looking at those gas prices though.

[Silent3]

71. I waited over a month to get my car fixed.

Just got it back a couple of weeks ago.

Both parts shortages and labor shortages contributed to the delay. I’ve never waited any more than 2-3 days to get my car fixed before this.

[denbot]

73. Major outage of shipping software has been ongoing since Saturday.

This is affecting the trucking industry. I just came on shift and immediately had another driver report that due to software problems it won't be till tomorrow till he'll be unloaded. If this last longer, or spreads to other systems, buckle up.

My OP regarding the transportation software issue.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215938148

[RFCalifornia]

76. There are shortages of the stuff that makes your stuff

That's why your stuff is even more expensive than it was before

Chip shortages is the biggest right now -- and everything runs on them

[BannonsLiver]

82. No shortages where I'm at

Like most things, it’s hyper dramatized on DU.

[shanti]

83. Not so much shortages, but

the price of meat in NorCal is ridiculous and the quality isn't as good. But one becomes inventive in these situations; lots of meat alternatives.

[Act_of_Reparation]

87. Well, shit.

If one person in one town in the country can find everything they need, I guess everything is just peachy.

[DenaliDemocrat]

88. Tractor parts

No tractor less than 100 hp is made n the USA. Parts are backlogged 12 months or more.

[obamanut2012]

89. Only IKEA

They have been out of almost everything since April 2020, and it's global.

[Wingus Dingus]

93. Ikea has been hit hard--I've had to settle for second and third choices every time I've gone.

[Jose Garcia]

92. No Fresca in South Florida

[RANDYWILDMAN]

94. Workers at crappy jobs, waited for a script at rite aid to be filled took them 8 hours

Here and there others things.

My favorite local burger place, has almost no staff and is only open drive through.

Live in Oregon.

[OhZone]

95. My friend on another forum thinks the issues are more pronounced on the west coast

She mentions the fires in Oregon, too, besides the other issues.