Dozens of Tucsonans waited outside Fry’s Grocery Store at Grant Road and Swan Road at 6 A.M. to be the first to procure necessity items like eggs, milk, bread and toilet paper once the doors open at 7 A.M.
Recently the grocery store changed their hours to open for seniors at 6 A.M. Monday through Thursday, and then to the general public at 7 A.M. On Fridays, however, the store opens to everyone at 7 A.M. Young and old line up about a shopping cart’s distance to wait the hour before the doors open to see which items have been restocked.
70-year-old Don Reister said this is his second time coming the grocery store this week. He came to Fry’s early yesterday morning and waited, but they were out of what he needed once. He hopes today they’ll have cheese, yogurt and blueberries in stock.
“I’m a little annoyed because I think people are getting out of hand with this,” Reister said while waiting in the bitterly crisp morning air. “I just went yesterday and they didn’t have anything.”
At the front of the line is an employee of the store named Kevin (declined to give his last name). He is here on his day off to buy groceries for the week – and find out if he can pick up a few more shifts. Kevin has a hunch that out of stock items like toilet paper, bleach and paper towels were restocked the night before and will be on the shelves this morning.
“On these days, I’m just like any other customer,” Kevin said waiting for his fellow employees to unlock the doors. “I like to start on (the toilet paper) aisle and work my way across. I hope a shipment came because I don’t have much toilet paper at home.”
Even though Kevin works at the store, he said he still has trouble getting his necessities like frozen dinners, cat litter, toothpaste and basic groceries. He believes the shortages are directly related to people hoarding during the coronavirus pandemic.
“People are hoarding and over-buying stuff,” Kevin said. “You don’t know how long this is going to last before the virus is curtailed. People are just being crazy.”
This article appears in Mar 26 – Apr 1, 2020.
This story, is not “news” This health crisis is dramatic enough without articles like this over dramatizing the sutuation. When you write Me Register was waiting in the “bitterly crisp” morning sir, I can’t help but roll my eyes and shake my head. and then interviewing the Fry’s worker “Kevin” standing in line as well because he “has a hunch” they may have stocked the toilet paper the night before. Umm Kevin works there, I’m guessing he probably has more than a “Hunch”.
Just a suggestion. Just tell the story, don’t over dranatize or whatever you call this. If it didn’t sound so dumb to say out loud, the Bitterly Crisp Morning part was a good read
Kevin might as well givin his last name. He’s the only kevin that works there lmao
This story, filed under “Community Info”, matches perfectly my own experiences at another Tucson supermarket. I’ve been shopping there for 7 years and know most of the staff. Seeing and hearing the same things there.
Some stores don’t have lines and the shelves are pretty well stocked, for example Sprouts at Speedway and Swan. I go to there almost every day and basically it seems to be business as usual. However, I just go for food and wine; I’ve never checked the TP shelve. There are “X’s” on the floor at check-out to remind folks to keep their distance. Not a major inconvenience.