Early in the pandemic, there was a run on toilet paper, paper towels and sanitizer products that resulted in the shelves of many stores being stripped bare. Now, in late November, once again people in Eureka Springs and elsewhere in the country are panic buying.
The buying is particularly hard on people who live paycheck-to-paycheck or are unemployed. They report not being able to buy ahead, and experience anger and frustration that those better heeled have taken up all the supplies. But while Wal-Mart in Berryville has been out of most of these supplies since mid-November, store managers in Eureka Springs and Holiday Island say they are prepared to meet the demand.
Hart’s Family Center has been limiting toilet paper to one per customer, and J.J. Galyen, assistant general manager, said Hart’s has been getting supplies in three times a week.
“So, my distributor is not completely out,” Galyen said. “They are just limiting how many cases I can get at one time. I’ve got a limit of one package of paper products per customer. I had a pretty good stock of paper towels before all this happened. I had two pallets of a generic paper towels. Bounty and stuff like that, I’m able to just get a little at a time.”
There are other things he has had trouble obtaining enough of such as canned cat and dog food, small cans of pumpkin pie mix, and canned beans.
“Here and there I’m getting a little of everything, but not the quantities I want,” Galyen said.
Sunfest Market in Holiday Island has plenty of supplies of toilet paper, paper towels and sanitary wipes. Store Manager Will Rayburn said they haven’t experienced a run on those since back in March. But seeing what has happened elsewhere, the store has placed a limit of one package per customer on toilet paper and paper towels.
“We have plenty of supplies now, but, on average, I am getting less than half of what I order,” Rayburn said.
Sunfest also hasn’t been able to get the usual canned pumpkin supplies in small cans.
“I can’t even order them in,” Rayburn said. “I just get a message that says, ‘Long-term unavailable, Covid-19.’ I get that on 400 or 500 items right now.”
Rayburn said he suspects that if there is an increase in panic buying, it will arise from fear of another lockdown.