MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Coronavirus is changing the way businesses are operating. Stores are struggling to keep up with demand as customers stock up and quickly wipe supplies off the shelves.
Each day that more coronavirus cases are announced, products labeled ‘disinfectant’ and ‘antibacterial’ are flying off shelves in high demand. Common household items and groceries are too.
Antibacterial soap, hand sanitizers, wipes, and hygiene products are recommended cleaning supplies by stores. Store managers say household items like toilet paper, paper towels, and baby wipes are becoming limited.
Local Walmart and Food Lion’s shelves were wiped empty on Friday afternoon. The Food Lion in Carolina Forest was completely out of toilet paper and Walmart on Seaboard Street was struggling to keep up with popular demand too.
Employees say Kleenex, paper towels, and cleaning products are swiped off stocked shelves in a matter of minutes. Walmart’s store manager told me they are getting truck deliveries every night but items like hand sanitizer haven’t been delivered in nearly five days. Walmart released a statement on the coronavirus this week:
“We are working to replenish those items quickly, including diverting products to areas of the country where they are needed most and routing deliveries directly to stores. We have also authorized our store managers to manage their inventory, including the discretion to limit sales quantities on items that are in unusually high demand. “
Many customers walking into Target and CVS stores today also left striking out.
Target’s shelves were bare this afternoon. Employees are trying to keep inventory stocked with antibacterial soap, wipes, and sanitizer. They said just ten minutes after restocking… shelves are wiped empty.
Target employees say they are receiving three to four truckloads of shipment each week, but that’s still not enough for customer demand. Customers who walked out empty-handed were directed to come back first thing tomorrow.
At CVS, the manager said he’s getting shipments in once a week. Items like Purell that have been out of stock for weeks, he isn’t anticipating getting in any time soon. Some locations are giving out instructions on how to make your own hand sanitizer.
Several store managers said they don’t know when they will be receiving items as some of their warehouses aren’t even stocked.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has compiled a list of disinfectants to help combat coronavirus.
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