Shortages of toilet paper, bleach and hand sanitizer in Greater Victoria might have as much to do with disruptions in the supply chain and discount pricing as they do with fears over COVID-19.
Robert Jay, vice-president of Fairway Market, said the chain of nine stores has noticed problems in getting goods from suppliers in the East because of rail blockades set up in support of Wet鈥檚uwet鈥檈n hereditary chiefs who oppose a natural gas pipeline passing through their traditional territory.
鈥淭here are other factors than coronavirus, so it鈥檚 hard to put a finger on what鈥檚 causing [the shortages]. It could be demand, it could be blockades.鈥�
Or it could be pricing. 鈥淲e have had bathroom tissue on sale already this week, so it鈥檚 been moving, but is it moving because of the sale or because of coronavirus?鈥� he said.
There have been anecdotal reports from chains such as Costco and Walmart around the Lower Mainland that people have been stocking up on bottled water, rice and toilet paper for fear they could be quarantined in their homes.
On Monday, Costco in Langford ran out of toilet paper, which Catherine McLachlan discovered while shopping on Tuesday afternoon. 鈥淚 know some people are panicking. My daughter is a cashier here and she鈥檚 had lots of people upset. People are stocking up,鈥� said McLachlan, who was loading groceries into her car in the Costco parking lot.
McLachlan said people are overreacting to the threat of the coronavirus. 鈥淚鈥檓 a flight attendant and I鈥檓 not worried. It鈥檚 life, right?鈥�
Andrea Cavanagh and Gary Cooper were also packing their groceries into their vehicle. 鈥淲e came here to get rice, dog food, toilet paper and paper towels, and we spent $310 and we didn鈥檛 buy what we needed,鈥� said Cooper. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e out of toilet paper. They鈥檙e out of paper towels. They鈥檙e out of everything like that. They鈥檙e out of white rice. We just got some Australian brown rice.鈥�
Cooper said the store should limit on how much people buy. 鈥淧eople go in there and buy 10聽giant bags of rice. If you鈥檙e getting 36 rolls of paper, just get one of those, don鈥檛 buy 10 of them.鈥�
Jay said some Fairway stores have been out of stock for items such as toilet paper, bleach and Lysol wipes, while others still have plenty. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 tell why 鈥� there鈥檚 been nothing blatant like people loading up their buggies with toilet paper, water and stuff like that. It鈥檚 been subtle,鈥� he said, adding dried soup mixes have been moving off the shelves at some stores.
Tammy Averill, marketing manager at Country Grocer, said she noticed the toilet paper shelf was empty when she went shopping Sunday evening. 鈥淏ut that being said, Saturday was our one-day, giant, leap-year sale, so it kind of threw everything off,鈥� she said.
A Walmart representative said the company is working with vendors as customers have increased demand for products in some categories, including non-perishables and sanitizers.
