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Coronavirus virus fears causing panic buying

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trainophile

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The current situation will be doing wonders for the Co-op's bottom line. Most of us will be giving thanks for their proximity. Also their loyalty scheme is very simple - points added to your account every time you flash your membership card, and immediately converts to cash so you can pay for or put it towards your next shop even if you've only got a couple of quid on there.

I wonder if they are still happy to handle membership cards at the scanner. Hmm, will have to ask when I next visit.
 
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Bantamzen

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The current situation will be doing wonders for the Co-op's bottom line. Most of us will be giving thanks for their proximity. Also their loyalty scheme is very simple - points added to your account every time you flash your membership card, and immediately converts to cash so you can pay for or put it towards your next shop even if you've only got a couple of quid on there.

I wonder if they are still happy to handle membership cards at the scanner. Hmm, will have to ask when I next visit.

Staff were taking membership cards yesterday, they were wearing gloves to protect them.
 

AndrewE

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Indeed.
I don't include the co-op though. I used to like ours before it closed.
I have found the Co-op generally to be not as cheap as Aldi or Lidl (although they do sometimes have some pricier special lines) but I assumed that was because the Co-op wasn't being quite as "efficient" (i.e. so ruthless in squeezing its suppliers, or driving its staff so hard.) I did hear somewhere that it wasn't a particularly good employer, though.
 

jmh59

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Our (all?) co-op now closes at 8pm to restock ready for the next day. Not sure how good a stock they have as we usually only go down once a week or so for milk.

Asda yesterday was letting 5 customers in at a time (I stayed in the car with a copy of Heritage Railway!) and all seemed to go quite well according to the wife. Most shoppers came out with bags in hand or a small trolley load. I am not sure that the lady parked near me with a stuffed trolley who then went back into the queue to get in quite got into the spirit of things but hey, she may have a huge family what do I know!
 

Bletchleyite

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Some of the independents are taking the mick (not my local one, fortunately) but the chains aren't, and it's those I like better, to be honest, particularly the Co-op which seems to have a much better range than Tesco Express and Sainsbury's Local. This may well be because they don't have many large stores so don't need to be bothered about you not visiting them.
 

IanD

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I find the Co-op to be more expensive than both Sainsbury's/Tesco local. Also, the two here on the High Street in Newport Pagnell (20 yards apart) seem to have jacked some of their prices in the last week often without bothering to alter the shelf edge.
 

trainophile

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Undoubtedly the Co-op are dearer, because they are aimed at the convenience store market. It's worth it for times like this though, if you have one in walking distance. They are also very good at fair trade etc., and try to support overseas endeavours where possible.
 

Busaholic

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The current situation will be doing wonders for the Co-op's bottom line. Most of us will be giving thanks for their proximity. Also their loyalty scheme is very simple - points added to your account every time you flash your membership card, and immediately converts to cash so you can pay for or put it towards your next shop even if you've only got a couple of quid on there.

I wonder if they are still happy to handle membership cards at the scanner. Hmm, will have to ask when I next visit.
On the latter, probably not, because my local Co-op this morning had a sign on the lottery stand saying they had withdrawn the entry slips and asking people to only play the lottery if really felt necessary, and then only by lucky dip, and also not to buy scratchcards. Mind you, even if you'd 'won' anything you wouldn't have been able to redeem it at the till 'for the time being'!
 

nidave

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Reports on sites (from tweets mainly) about the mountain of out of date fresh food being binned
https://www.ladbible.com/news/news-...lie-bins-overflowing-with-fresh-food-20200327
After we saw empty shelves in supermarkets across the UK due to panic buying, photos of bins overflowing with fresh food have been emerging on social media.

Sharing photos of fresh food put out for the bins, Lib Dem councillor Ajit Singh Atwal posted: "To all the people in this great city of ours in Derby, if you have gone out & panic bought like a lot of you have & stacked up your houses with unnecessary items you don't normally buy or you have bought in more food than you need, then you need to take a good look at yourself."

Only link I could remember
 
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philjo

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There were 4 packets of Andrex on the shelf in our Sainsbury’s local this morning. I didn’t get one but did buy the only box of eggs they had.
Boots had moisturising got hand sanitiser bottles at the till - first I have seen for several weeks. It was the aloe Vera one that doesn’t shrivel up your hands !

the queue to get into Morrisons stretched across the car park so will try another day!
 

Darandio

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Went out earlier this afternoon to our local Asda for some shopping, that should be it for me until the middle of next week.

Apart from the queuing whilst waiting to enter, things inside were approaching something that resembled normal. There was a small amount of pasta, many tins had been restocked since the last time I visited and toilet rolls were plentiful. So plentiful that the shelves were full and two pallets were at the end of the aisle. Plenty of beer too!
 

Non Multi

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Glad that the major supermarket chains are now limiting how many can enter their stores at any one time. There was no way you could have social distancing with the big morning rush of shoppers, especially on weekends.
 

edwin_m

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Had to wait 10min to get into Asda this morning but in comparison to the same time last Saturday (0830ish) it was much better. Nearly everything in stock including some (but not many) eggs and toilet rolls and a whole shelf of own-brand paracetamol. No queues at the tills. Plenty of pickers for click and go or deliveries, most not wearing uniforms so I presume some of the new recruits. There was a rather half-hearted one way system with taped arrows on the floor but most people were ignoring it, and being fairly empty it was reasonably easy to pass someone else in an aisle with the requisite 2m clearance (except for some burke who decided to stand in the middle...).

Downside is that they have cut back their closing time to 1800 Mon-Sat so anyone working office hours is going to have difficulty getting in except at weekends. My wife works these hours and is a critical worker and needs the car, so if we need something during the week she has to stop off on the way or I have to walk down and buy the limited amount I can carry.
 

AndrewE

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My wife works these hours and is a critical worker and needs the car, so if we need something during the week she has to stop off on the way or I have to walk down and buy the limited amount I can carry.
Get a bike... you would be surprised how much weight or volume you can get in a pair of panniers and strapped on the carrier (and a small rucksack as well doesn't seem to be taboo any more...)
 

AndrewE

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Do bike shops count as essential shops?
Essential Workers might well need their services to continue attending their workplaces (and if petrol stations are still open I don't see why bike shops offering maintenance shouldn't keep working!)
 

edwin_m

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Get a bike... you would be surprised how much weight or volume you can get in a pair of panniers and strapped on the carrier (and a small rucksack as well doesn't seem to be taboo any more...)
Unfortunately although Asda is a short distance it includes a steep hill where traffic tends to speed. I used to cycle but I'm not as young as I used to be and where I lived at the time only needed use of quiet roads to get Nottingham's cycle track network. I'd get some strange looks but I could carry more on foot in a big rucksack or a wheelie suitcase than I could on a bike.
 

SHD

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Everything well-stocked in my Parisian suburb supermarket except for the fishmongers’ corner and... flour and yeast. Not a single grain of flour left, not a single pack of bakers’ yeast. I got some fresh yeast from the local bakery, though.
 

341o2

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Do bike shops count as essential shops?
Yes as do garages. In case anyone is unaware, all MOT's due from the end of March are being extended for 6 months, presumably for the duration of the pandemic. There also has been a rush of people getting their MOT early before this was announced
 

AndrewE

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Took the wife to Sainsbury's today (we are both key workers). Very well stocked (even had Andrex!) apart from eggs. There were plastic screens at the tills

In my neck of the woods, it seems panic buying has started to calm down
but was there any bread flour? Can't find any anywhere!
 

30907

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Unfortunately although Asda is a short distance it includes a steep hill where traffic tends to speed. I used to cycle but I'm not as young as I used to be and where I lived at the time only needed use of quiet roads to get Nottingham's cycle track network. I'd get some strange looks but I could carry more on foot in a big rucksack or a wheelie suitcase than I could on a bike.
We bought a 2-wheeled shopping thingy last year - instead of using a backpack and shopping bags - but you need not to overload it if the hill is too steep.
 

AndrewE

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We bought a 2-wheeled shopping thingy last year - instead of using a backpack and shopping bags - but you need not to overload it if the hill is too steep.
I don't like the one-sided strain/drag on my arms and shoulders from trolleys, I'd far rather pedal a loaded bike a bit faster in a lower gear (and not have to look out for dog**** all the way either.) At least a rucksack puts the load centrally down your spine. Carrying heavy carrier bags is a recipe for discomfort or even injuries, it's why the yoke was developed everywhere that people carry heavy loads.
 
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