Grocery store inventories rebounding — except for toilet paper
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Shoppers are more likely to find what they want at many Twin Cities grocery stores, now that the initial shopping frenzy ignited by COVID-19 fears has passed.
Inventories and selection have notably improved at many stores, although things are still not back to normal.
The Wedge and Linden Hills Co-ops have steadily built up their supplies, getting close to typical stocking levels, said Josh Resnik, CEO of Twin Cities Co-op Partners.
“One of my store directors said 80 to 90 [percent] and the other said 90 to 95 [percent]. Let’s call it 90 percent in total,” he said.
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Resnik said the selection of produce is especially strong, showing no evidence of tight supplies or panic.
Resnik said when people started really worrying about COVID-19 last month, customers cleared shelves of pasta, rice, beans and other staples. For five days in a row, store sales topped those for a typical day before Thanksgiving.
Inventory levels are holding up pretty well at Kowalski’s 11 Twin Cities locations, said chief operating officer Mike Oase.
“The one area that's still a little bit tight is toilet paper,” he said. “And cleaning products are still a little bit tight. But aside from that, things have gotten a lot better each day.”
Oase said manufacturers have done a good job of catching up with demand. And Kowalski’s has limited purchases on some high-demand items, when warranted.
Oase said customer traffic is down about 35 percent from last year but sales are up a little bit. He said people are buying more when they shop. And more customers are opting for curbside pickup of groceries or home delivery.