Supermarkets Place Limits On Paper Products Amid Rising Coronavirus Cases

As coronavirus cases surge in the United States, some supermarket retailers are re-instituting buying restrictions on specific products such as toilet paper, USA Today reported.

Kroger, which runs different brands in 35 states and the District of Columbia, told USA Today in a statement that it has “proactively and temporarily set purchase limits to two per customer” on merchandise such as paper towels, toilet paper, hand soap and sanitizing wipes.

Upstate New York-based Wegmans noted in a statement, as per the outlet, that it has had restrictions on buying paper towels and toilet paper as of May and will maintain those restrictions.

H-E-B put into place restrictions on paper towels and toilet paper as of the end of October at stores in the Central Texas, Border, San Antonio and Gulf Coast regions. H-E-B, for its part, supervises over 400 retail locations, primarily in Texas.

Pennsylvania-based The Giant Co. also began placing restrictions on the quantity of toilet paper and paper towel products that consumers may buy. The Giant Co. has approximately 190 retail locations throughout the country.

The coronavirus’ hits seem to just keep on coming, and some experts foresee another wave of mass purchasing of some items like toilet paper, disinfectant spray, hand sanitizer and masks.

In fact, market observers think that a second wave of panic buying could be worse than the first because consumers have negative memories of not being able to buy ground beef or having to request paper towels from their neighbors.

And, if shoppers are going to engage in another round of stocking up, stores are committed to being more prepared the second time, stocking up on merchandise they predict will have high demand.

Much of what retailers are buying is not surprising such as masks, household items, paper goods and other merchandise that experienced shortages in the coronavirus’ early weeks, according to a published report.