Covid-19: It Continues

[BakerAunt]

I have not lived near a Marshall's, so I cannot comment on their selection. Ross also has some foodstuffs, but not anywhere as extensive as T.J. Maxx or Tuesday Morning. I mostly bought German honey, cookie and cake decor toppings, and sometimes tea at Ross. That's good to know about Home Goods, CWCdesign. There is one in South Bend, so I will have my husband make a stop there when we drive up to collect that futon.

[Mike Nolan]

TJ Maxx, Marshalls and Home Goods are all the same company, we have all 3 in Lincoln.

Our TJ Maxx seems to cater more to clothes for young people, but it does have a small cooking section.

The Marshalls and Home Goods here are inter-connected, you can go from one to the other and the checkout area is for both. The Home Goods area seems to have mostly clothes, the Marshalls has furniture, linens and a pretty big cooking/food area, with a large wall of kitchen implements and tools. They won't have the latest innovations, but I've gotten measuring cups, custard cups, brushes and a few pans there, usually at very good prices. (I'm always looking for new shapes and sizes of brushes.)

The company buys a lot of surplus inventory (as does Tuesday Morning), so the selection changes all the time. The foodstuffs they have (candies, chocolates, pasta and oils/sauces) tend to be brands I'm not familiar with, I'm not sure if that's just because they aren't carried in this part of the country or if they're buying from companies that market under multiple brands or haven't established other distribution channels.

[BakerAunt]

I think that you have it backwards, Mike. Marshalls is mostly clothes and Home Goods is mostly furniture, kitchen, food, etc.

[Mike Nolan]

It would make more sense that way, but when you go through the doorway between the two sections, it says 'Welcome to Marshalls' when you enter the side that has the linens, furniture and kitchen items.

I've been in a Marshalls store (in PA), it had a little bit of everything, just like the TJ Maxx in Lincoln. So I'm not sure there's a clear dividing line between the three.

[cwcdesign]

They are a Massachusetts based company - TJ Maxx and Marshall’s were separate companies, then TJ bought Marshall’s (eons ago) when home decor started being so important they created Home Goods. The Home Goods near my art teacher was connected to a TJ Maxx which was all clothes there.

[BakerAunt]

I do not know if it is pandemic related, but when we did our shopping trip in the larger town northeast of us last week, Kroger was out of some items I normally buy there. The King Arthur flour (on sale) was gone; there were not the potatoes I usually buy, they did not have my full fat, plain Stonyfield yogurt (that happens periodically), and they have not had the low-fat Kemp's frozen vanilla yogurt that my husband likes for several months. I also checked the pasta shelf, and I noted that the nice selection of pasta from Italy was missing, so Italian Cook's thoughts about a shortage may indeed be correct. Aldi's did still have several varieties from Italy.

I received my Pfizer Covid-19 booster on Tuesday at my local CVS. The pharmacist gives very good shots, so I did not have the nerve issues in my arm that I experienced after the second shot at the hospital. It was more like the first time, with my arm being a little sore. I was a bit tired on Wednesday and a little chilled. It felt more like the first Covid-19 shot rather than what I experienced after the second one.

[cwcdesign]

I got my flu shot on the 8th and am getting my booster on Saturday - my doctor recommended 2 weeks between the shots. I planned it for Saturday as we have Sunday and Monday off, just in case . . .
So far, the only one of my acquaintances who has had problems is the person who had both her flu and booster at the same time - she was down for a few days.

One of my reps was in last Wednesday - there may be a lot of my Christmas stuff I won't get to put on the floor. At this point, I am calling to see what is available and on hand. Many of the vendors are letting us know what is no longer available and that there are no new orders allowed if we want to get it in time. The order I placed with my rep is for Easter!

[Italiancook]

Thanks, BakerAunt, for letting us know Aldi's has Italian pasta. I'm still not in the protected range after The Vaccine, so I'll ask my husband to stop by there and see if there's any at our Aldi's.

[Mike Nolan]

The WSJ and other media run articles fairly frequently talking about how empty shelves have become commonplace throughout the USA. Doesn't seem to matter what it is, everything has supply line issues. I hear whiskey distillers are having trouble getting the 750 ml bottles they use.

Some of it is product availability, some of it is packaging, some of it is shipping issues. The dock workers in LA have recently agreed to go to 24 hour shifts, but will they find people willing to do the work on the overnight shifts?

Shutting most of the world down for many months is still causing major ripples, likely to last into 2023 and well beyond. In Europe empty shelves have been a problem for years, we hosted some French exchange students about 20 years ago; they were amazed at the amount of products (and the variety) on the shelves of stores, especially the big box ones. These days, the empty shelves here would probably make them feel more at home, I guess.

Some of the major players, like Walmart, are renting entire container ships so they have sufficient transport capabilities, and that can run into 7 digits per ship! The 40 foot containers are in limited supply, too.

[BakerAunt]

A quick vaccine note. CVS, in the info they sent me before the shot, suggested drinking 16 oz. of water an hour before getting the vaccine shot in order to alleviate symptoms afterwards. I was willing to try anything that would help, so I did so. I checked later on line, and I do not know that there is a basis for drinking water before, but perhaps it helps to be properly hydrated. It also helps to have someone who is good at giving this particular kind of shot!

[BakerAunt]

The Arlo and Janis comic strip is doing a story line on the shortages--particularly Christmas items:

https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2021/10/21

[cwcdesign]

The other day, one of my co-workers was chatting with a guest and asked her if she had started her Christmas shopping yet. She replied that she wasn't going to shop for her family and go all out. But - what she was going to do was wait until November, buy up all the hot things she could find and put them up on eBay - Merry Christmas! (eye roll)

[Mike Nolan]

My guess is the really hot items, whatever they are this year, are going to be scarce by November.

Instant pots are so 2019 at this point. I was at Bed Bath and Beyond yesterday, and their shelves looked pretty full, at least in the kitchen area. I was there to buy a 3 1/2 quart induction-capable vegetable steamer, I'm looking for a way to can just one or two quarts of something without filling up my 24 quart pot. Oh, and steaming some vegetables, too.

[Mike Nolan]

We're scheduled to get our covid booster shots on Wednesday.

[cwcdesign]

I got my booster (Pfizer) on Saturday - my arm was a little sore and I had a minor headache but that was about it - the injection site is sore tonight, but we had a busy day at work.

I was in Harris Teeter yesterday. I’m surprised at some things that aren’t available right now, like my favorite flavor of salsa - they had the other flavors from the same brand. The pasta shelves have plenty, but not completely stocked - no orzo and hasn’t been there for a while. I needed AP and bread flour. They had KAF AP, WWW, organic bread flour and organic AP - no whole wheat or regular bread flour. I bought the regular AP and the organic bread flour which was a dollar off the price.

And, they didn’t have my favorite whole milk - organic valley

[Author]

Posts