Grocery Stores Restock As OC Shoppers Strive For Composure

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — On Wednesday, day three of the new coronavirus shutdown in Orange County. At home, residents fire up their home computers, feed breakfast to their young kids, and face a new day in a changing world.

Parents look to their pantries and wonder if there is enough while reports from state and federal officials tell us there is no food shortage.

It's true, according to multiple sources. There is no supply chain breakdown.

In Garden Grove at your friendly neighborhood Vons, shoppers line up before the store opened at 7 a.m. The line wraps around the building as people attempt to be socially distant out of COVID-19 concerns.

The store has changed its hours to accommodate restocking, as well as those who attempt to buy the basics.

Our Patch editor arrives early, because like you, she needs milk and yes, some paper products.
Patch spoke with a resident over 70 on Tuesday about the challenges our elderly face when trying to buy a box of cake mix and some toilet paper.

(For the love, people. If you hoarded on purpose or by accident and want to do something about it, let's have a chat off the record.)

At Vons, our Patch editor finds one 12 roll pack of toilet paper. Thanking her lucky stars, she buys this and milk for her young son, at home and off school, and some other items.

Whoever knew this would feel like winning the lottery?

According to Garden Grove Vons store manager, hours have changed from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. to allow grocery store workers to restock empty shelves. We are waiting for word on senior-only hours at these locations and will update soon.

Many Orange County grocery stores have opened early to serve seniors of 65 and older early:

• Albertson's is offering senior-only shopping from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays
• Gelson's senior-only shopping is from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.
• Whole Foods have offered senior-only hours from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.

Leaving Vons with her purchases, our Patch editor describes the scene. The line is still there, and longer.

She sees an older man in a veteran's hat walks toward the store entrance. He views the long line and sees a defeated look spread across his face.

He turns back to his car.

"Before he could pull away, I went to his car and told him everyone in line wants him to go to the front," she tells me. "I made him come."

Guilty at her plethora of tp, she offers up rolls if anyone is in desperate need. No one accepts her offer.

Inside, there was enough to buy if everyone followed the rules and limited purchases to what they need.

Empty shelves are a punch in the gut for many who have never gone without the bare minimum.
Food insecurity is a real thing.

Further south, a reader tells Patch that pallets of water have made their way to the Home Depot center aisles, specifically in Laguna Niguel.

Elsewhere in the county, shoppers may still find the shelves "a little light," one Whole Foods manager told Patch. "Paper products are slow to return, but it looks like things are getting better."

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Read also:

South Coast Plaza Worker Tests Positive For COVID-19, Mall Closes

Over 70 And Self-Quarantining: OC Life In The Time Of Coronavirus

OC Goes Socially Distant As Malls, Restaurants, Theaters Close

29 Cases Of Coronavirus In Orange County, Week 1 Of Shutdown

Coronavirus Changes Life In OC From Hoarding To Helping