[Tenhens]

The supermarkets have realised the stockpiling issue and rationing , it was only a question of time.

Just been to (try) and get some bread while Mrs Dog went to the dentist and saw someone with a trolley piled high with 5L bottles of fabric conditioner.! Also the independent discount shop in town is selling bottles of antibac gel marked at 49p for £5 and packs of toilet rolls marked at £5 for £20. I can't help but hope that it won't be one of the businesses to survive this crisis.

A Spar shop in Sheffield has been unsealing toilet rolls and selling them individually at a premium without the wrapper , local social media have highlighted.

[John]

This price gouging is so stupid. Many years ago my Dad realised there was going to be a sugar shortage and stocked his shop's storeroom to the roof with it. And the upstairs (nearly killed me carrying it up the stairs)
Come the shortage he sold it at normal price but you could only have one bag when you spent £5.
Total sales trebled, regular customers happy and so were we. A lot of the extra business stuck as well when the shortage was over.
He could have made an extra profit but people remember when they've been ripped off - besides, this way he kept the regulars happy. Customers we knew didn't have to spend a fiver but we used to just wink and ask them if they wanted the sugar,

[Growster...]

Annie and James, at our local pub, have just popped a great message through our door, saying that they'll help anyone needing stuff in any way they can!

What a lovely gesture, especially as it's aimed at a few of us over 70..:0~

So we rang James for an order of two lots of fish and chips, plus an allowance of half a gallon of draught beer, and it seems they were delighted, and so are we, as Mrs Growster has a fish and chip addiction, and I have a - er - draught beer 'consideration'...

Just goes to show how local businesses will win out, especially as we might just do the same next Friday and the week after as well. probably over the next month or three...

Keep calm everybody, Brits are always winners!

[Tenhens]

This price gouging is so stupid. Many years ago my Dad realised there was going to be a sugar shortage and stocked his shop's storeroom to the roof with it. And the upstairs (nearly killed me carrying it up the stairs)
Come the shortage he sold it at normal price but you could only have one bag when you spent £5.
Total sales trebled, regular customers happy and so were we. A lot of the extra business stuck as well when the shortage was over.
He could have made an extra profit but people remember when they've been ripped off - besides, this way he kept the regulars happy. Customers we knew didn't have to spend a fiver but we used to just wink and ask them if they wanted the sugar,

Good service pays , I heard on the radio the other day someone from a hand sanitiser producer when asked if they would be putting their prices up responded   ' no '  they were not interested in the fast buck but the long term business and maintaining their customer base.

[John]

We pulled getting some chicken feed ahead by a week as we'd decided to hunker down before the announcement, so we're OK for eggs for the foreseeable. Our plan is work our way down the freezer - down at the bottom there's a mammoth which should have been eaten a while ago!
We're not worried about getting online supplies - our daughter and family live nearby and they're not at risk so can do some shopping for us and our pals up the hill if they're stuck. The other couple from up the hill are stuck in a camper van in Portugal and can't get back.
The local coop and Premier don't seem to have any problem meeting demand.
What's really touched me is someone I don't know who is a friend of my daughter told her that she'd bring shopping up to us if my daughter falls ill. That's so kind 

[WeavingGryphon]

We've had to get stuff out of the freezer for the In Laws because the fridge meat section in the local supermarket is empty by the time they get to the shop after work. I have offered to get them something in the morning but they have declined. They make their mind up on the day what they want to eat. It'd also help keep them out of the shop as both are vulnerable but they want to act normal. We honestly worry they are for the hospital.

[John]

Perhaps you could tackle it another way with them by explaining it's everyone's duty. It's not just protecting yourself, it's protecting others. If you get ill and end up in hospital then someone else may be prevented from getting the level of care they need.

[Christine]

Daughter is working from home like most of her workplace (universities have the capacity for most staff except direct teaching which she doesn't do) and had a round robin email from one of her colleagues asking if anyone else was having trouble confining their elderly parents to the house. With the football and racing cancelled there are a few of the men that I know who are quite likely to break out.

[mumofstig]

There's a difference between self-isolating (not touching/being near anyone at all) because you are ill, and the 'shielding' that has been advised for the elderly, from what I've read.
The oldies can go out for a walk, choosing a time when few people are about, and gardening for the exercise - but to avoid other people as much as they can. (I'm not sure how queuing up and chatting with loads of other pensioners, for the early opening supermarkets, would count as shielding yourself from contact  Unless they left the distance between people..)
So here people are still working on their allotments, as normal - but keeping to their own plots and only having shouted conversations.

[WeavingGryphon]

Perhaps you could tackle it another way with them by explaining it's everyone's duty. It's not just protecting yourself, it's protecting others. If you get ill and end up in hospital then someone else may be prevented from getting the level of care they need.

We have, in one ear and out the other. A troll could be up there eating people as they come out the door and they'd still go and try to get in.

[John]

I wonder if there's stuff going on psychologically here. Coping with some things being out of stock in the shop is controllable. At some deep level feeling more secure with enough loo rolls to cope with prolonged dysentery. But the virus itself, unseen and unreal is easy to deny. A 'fuss over nothing'. Denial of something that is scary but you can't fight or flee.

Just a thought

[goose]

I went and stocked up on compost today and am going to get my tomato planters tomorrow ahead of time as if the situation gets worse and we follow other countries, the only shops that are open are grocery stores and pharmacies. we are going to need our home grown food more than ever...neighbours may even look forward to the courgette season this year

The supermarket situation is really out of hand now and i wish supermarkets would stop this madness, although i have a conspiracy theory of them holding stuff back so everyone buys other stuff they don't need in a panic and keep coming back for more.

i went to large sainsburys and walked out empty handed the shelves were practically bare at 11am.  i managed to get what i needed in a smallish Budgens that appeared to be well stocked and whilst it was busier than normal, people only seemed to buying what the needed with a basket each and acting relatively responsible. i picked up some things for my neighbours who are self isolating as their son had a temperature a few days ago and have to lock down for 14 days.

[wighty]

Right, come on then, own up, who is stock piling what Lorraine Kelly called 'naughty toys'?    Apparently there has been a 'rush' on them.    

[JayG]

Given up on Tossco's for the time being, even though they've emailed me about their new anti panic-buying policy (not the only ones a bit slow to react.)
Got the few things I needed in Sanitysburys, although had a long wait at checkout as a mum with kids argued with the cashier whether her 8 packs of cook-in sauces purchases breached their '3 only' rules (cashier overruled by his supervisor eventually.
Happy days. 

[mrs bouquet]

Somebody I know went to sainsburys for the oldsters shop at 7am.    It seems couples were going in with a trolley each and their lists, coming o up and driving off home.     I am not a couple, and my arms aren't long enough to reach both sides of the stored at once.    I have stopped listening to the news and updates, and just getting on with it.    Hopefully if I run out, somebody will come to my aid.  🙏🏻.  Stay safe.   Mrs. Bouquet.      Sorry about the typing errors, I am not very good on this iPad.