SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. - Some shoppers at Redner‘s Warehouse Market and Walmart Supercenter in Milford are stocking up on items like toilet paper and paper towels with beliefs that the dock worker strike will affect the supply chain.
The "Bathroom Tissue" aisle in the Milford Walmart is almost completely empty and Redner's says they usually get "hit" after Walmart runs out of items. Redner's shelves had empty gaps as of noon Oct. 3.
However, according to Associated Press, "If the strike is resolved within a few weeks, consumers probably wouldn’t notice any major shortages of retail goods. But a strike that persists for more than a month would likely cause a shortage of some consumer products, although most holiday retail goods have already arrived from overseas. Shoppers could see higher prices on a vast array of goods, from fruit and vegetables to cars,"
Marcia Thurston says she witnessed panic buying at the Milford Walmart.
"So when I went into Walmart, I was really surprised to see that there was zero rolls of toilet tissue left on the shelves. So I felt like what is going on is just Covid 2.0. There's no reason for this to be happening already, and it's only going to make matters worse for the supply chain as far as toilet tissue goes."
Meanwhile Jan Finnefrock from Milford was just doing her usual shopping.
"I'm not worried. But with the ports closing, obviously things are going to start dwindling. So, yeah, I'm just here to get a few things before they're not here anymore."
In Millsboro, Mike Carey was stocking up at BJ's Wholesale Club.
"So prepare yourself. It's all I'm saying. Get out and get it where you can get it. That's where I'm going. I'm on the hunt today. Get water. Get your paper towels. Get napkins. Just because you run out of toilet paper, you run out of batteries."