CLAREMONT — It looked like Black Friday in March, with shoppers lined up outside on a cold morning outside a big-box store.
But instead of lining up for a good deal on a flat-screen TV or a laptop at Best Buy, shoppers Saturday were waiting outside Market Basket for something a little less extravagant: toilet paper.
The Washington Street store opened a half-hour early at 6:30, and by 7, it was cleaned out, according to several people.
The toilet paper and paper towel sections at Walmart on Bowen Street were cleaned out Friday night, and a shipment early Saturday was also gone soon after the store opened at 6 a.m.
It was the same up and down Washington Street, the city’s commercial strip, and in the city center. Whether a grocery store, convenience store, pharmacy, dollar store or big-box retailer, the shelves were stripped clean of hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, toilet paper and baby wipes, and many stores were running low on tissues, though paper towels appeared in good supply at most locations, as was bottled water.
Egan Davis, of Newport, wasn’t one of the lucky ones to get to Market Basket early. Standing by his shopping cart, Davis said his dilemma was made worse by the fact that he moved on Saturday.
“I have nothing,” Davis said. “All I did find is some paper towels.”
Davis’ reaction to the run on toilet paper was similar to others’.
“It is absolutely ridiculous,” he said. “It is mind-boggling. There is no need for it.”
A month ago, few would have thought that someone who scored bathroom tissue would be called lucky but the coronavirus has led to panic-buying across many parts of the country. While some regions have full supplies, others have bare shelves.
According to March 10 story in businessinsider.com, which quoted a Tokyo newspaper, false rumors on social media, not an actual shortage, led to the buying frenzy for toilet paper.
“Social media posts led people to believe, inaccurately, that the raw materials for masks and toilet paper are the same, and have the same Chinese source,” reported the paper.
Over at Hannaford supermarket, Betty and John Dellabough, of Lebanon, were among the lucky. In line at the register they had a couple of packages in their cart from the last on the shelves.
“They have made people go crazy,” Betty said. “What will it be like when this (coronavirus) really gets serious?”
Calls to several retailers on the Route 12A shopping district in West Lebanon brought the same response: They were out of these sought-after products and did not know when they would get more, and that went for hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes. They also said their stores do no receive shipments on Sundays.
One store that had a few packages of toilet tissue on the shelves was Rite Aid on Pleasant Street in Claremont. Cashier Makayla Blanchard said the store was packed up until closing on Friday night.
“It was absolutely insane,” Blanchard said Saturday morning. “I don’t understand it.”
When the frenzy will end is unclear, but The Washington Post reported Saturday the shortage is expected to be short-lived and supplies will return to normal soon, in large part, the paper said, because 90% of toilet paper is manufactured in the U.S.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
