BURTONSVILLE, Md. — The possibility of an incoming winter storm Sunday has some shoppers in the D.C. area worried they may not be able to stock up the way they are used to. There are already empty shelves in grocery stores all over the region, according to grocers, and hundreds of shoppers who shared photos of bare shelves with WUSA9.
"I feel like I'm back in 2020 over again,” said shopper Yulette Newman outside a Giant Food in Burtonsville, Maryland.
Shopper Alice Stewart said she was mystified because some products were well stocked while others appeared to have gone missing entirely.
"I had to wind up buying things that I normally would not buy, and I found myself buying more than I normally would," Stewart said.
A post on WUSA9's Facebook post asking what items were scarce on shelves quickly garnered more than 500 comments, which were flooded with photos showing the barren state of stores. Shoppers said chicken, eggs and many produce items were among those that are all but missing from their favorite stores.
“The prolonged pandemic and last week's weather has caused continued strain on our supply chain," Giant Spokesman Dan Wolk said.
The Maryland Retailers Association spokesperson, Caily Locklair, added that COVID's ongoing impact on workforces and a nationwide shortage of truckers is not helping weather delays.
"[There's] a lack of truck drivers, lack of store employees, COVID illness and production [is] slowing because of employee issues continues to impact our shelves," Locklair said in a written statement.
Problems with distributors and warehouses, compounded with weather disruptions have caused the most trouble, according to Lisa de Lima, who speaks for the specialty grocery Chain Mom’s Organic Markets.
“I think the biggest thing post-Christmas has been the labor shortages and you know those are because of COVID," DeLima said. “Distributors that we all order from, they're seeing a large percentage of their workforce call out because they're sick. We are hearing anywhere from 10% to 20% of workforces are calling out on any given day. We might send an order out to our supplier, and they may come back and say we can ship you 80% of what you ordered today."
De Lima predicted the disruptions will be temporary and will subside as the current spike in COVID cases peaks and begins to decline. Retailers urge customers not to engage in panic buying.
