[cynthia]

Just to weigh in from western Oregon, small town USA, I asked at the bakery outlet if there have been shortages of bread recently since the stock fluctuates and it isn't always meaningful to see an empty slot on the shelf. She said nothing is different. (I use the bread outlet to buy bread for the fraternity boys I cook for. The prices have jumped from .99 a loaf to $1.09 but that occurred the beginning of April right after spring break).
I went to the grocery outlet and found the shelves well stocked there and purchased some bargains for the pantry.
I am a Co-op member but our Co-op prices have skyrocketed so I'm shopping around more.
We're also happy our lettuce and spinach are about ready to harvest.
Gas is $3.05 a gallon here today. Set a record on my last fill-up of regular.
Biking more,
cynthia

[mommy22]

My husband works in the tire industry. Recently, the company had a sale for employees only and my husband was told that they had sold 300 units less than last year at the same point in the sale. DH feels it's because last year, people weren't spending so much to fill their gigantowagons. (My husband drives a Civic). He feels that people are pushing back buying tires for their cars much longer than they probably should...hopefully, they won't be blowing out on the highway....hmmm...just one more aspect of PO.
One other thing my husband noticed recently is at the gas station that he frequents, there is a sticker that says something to the effect that you can't charge more than $100 at the pump...you have to walk in and pay. We (who only fill our cars a couple times per month) had a hard time grasping that someone COULD spend $100 at the pump, but I guess these big ones have really big tanks on them.

[JustinFrankl]

One of the grocery chains nearby has self-checkout aisles (video- and scale-monitored, of course) where you scan your own groceries then can pay with credit card or cash through the machine. They've had this for a few years. Recently, however, at the self-checkout there have been signs that restrict credit card purchase to $50 or less, more than that requires an ID verification. The previous post on maximum credit for gas reminded me of that.

I have been seeing more gaps opening up on store shelves, but no shortages yet among the things I buy.

[SoothSayer]

>> We (who only fill our cars a couple times per month) had a hard time grasping that someone COULD spend $100 at the pump, but I guess these big ones have really big tanks on them.

Visit Europe some time!

It can cost me $100 to fill my small 1800 cc Audi A4.

[mommy22]

Your're right Soothsayer, we have lived in Europe for nearly 8 years (on the continent) and I remember those days of really expensive fill-ups. I also remember taking the metro, U-bahn, and bus most of the time. That is a luxury that most of us do not have in the US. So, those driving those big monstermobiles know how the average European feels. Oh yes, one more thing. I don't ever remember hitting a pothole on a Euro road. Those taxes do provide some great driving for those on the Euro side of the pond.

[Frozen-Stick]

I'm wondering why there is relatively low reaction (only such few posts) to this, in my opinion, quite interesting and important topic. Is everything normal again e.g. normal stocks in the shelves?

In the small village where i live without car, there is a mobile supermarket, a mobile butcher and a mobile baker's shop coming almost everyday and there is still everything to buy of the usual needs.

[WillMissTennis]

Well I live in Ontario, and our local frenchie store hasnt restocked their reeses in like 3 weeks. I dont know if this is normal or not, but I usually dont see candy shelves empty.

[TT]

No - stocks are not back to normal. There are still quite a few empty spaces in the supermarket. I'm only noticing because I'm looking for it.

Where there used to be 5 or 6 brands of paper towel, there are now only 3. They're pulled up to the front of the shelf, but there is noting behind. Jam is still in very low supply. Safeway restocked last week, but they only put out about 20 jars of each flavour. They were gone in minutes. Other sandwich spreads are also very low.

I couldn't buy any firelighters this week. None on the shelf at all. I tried both Safeways and Coles. Also very few matches.

So - no - it's not back to normal. I really don't understand what's happening, as we still have abundant oil at the moment.

[deafskeptic]

I haven't noticed any real shortages at my grocery store but I did notice that it opens later and closes earlier than it used to.

I have learned not to buy frozen foods in the summer during peak hours because the freezer at the store will fail and then everything will thaw. I don't think it's related to gas shortages as the local power company is powered by nuclear energy. I think it’s due to poor maintenance.

[SinisterBlueCat]

just got back from both wallyworld and the local grocery store, and both were normal. south central wisconsin, pop., 12,000.

but I did notice a rise in prices, but not significant

[deafskeptic]

I noticed a rise in prices and my grocery store is going to close next month and this explains why the cashier has been looking distressed lately. He's normally a very cheerful and friendly guy too. The situation is worse than I had thought.

[Nalathani]

I haven't seen a whole lot of shortages (some empty shelf space, but that's nothing to freak out about).

I have noticed price increases in a lot of things I buy quite a bit of. Cans of pineapple used to be 99 cents. 2 months ago it went to 1.50. Cans of corn/pease used to be 3/1 dollar. They are 50 cents now.

Of course, prices always go up occasionally to cover inflation...so I'm not sure if things like this are due to increase fuel prices/fertilizer prices or if its just our monetary system working its way out.