USA TODAY – Please don’t run straight to the supermarket, but some shoppers are buying up all the toilet paper – again.
Of course, this brings back distressing memories of spring 2020 and the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Demand for toilet paper skyrocketed as Americans were faced with a possibly lengthy stay-at-home future.
Even though manufacturers eventually caught up with demand, there were occasional local and national shortages with shoppers again finding empty shelves where TP used to be.
This latest rebound in toilet paper demand comes as the delta variant drives COVID-19 cases and deaths up across the U.S., with some folks foreseeing another lockdown.
Many Americans have used up their stockpiles and some have begun buying again in bulk, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Toilet paper demand has risen at retailers such as Massachusetts-based grocery chain Roche Bros. and Food City, headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, with more than 130 retail outlets in southern states.
Arthur Ackles, Roche Bros.’s vice president of merchandising and buying, told the Journal:
“I don’t think we fully recovered from when the supply chain got a massive hit.”
Manufacturers of toilet tissue say they are responding to the latest increase in demand.
In a statement to USA TODAY, Kimberly-Clark — which makes Cottonelle and Scott toilet tissue, and Kleenex — said the company:
” … is monitoring the situation closely, and working hard to produce more toilet paper … ” READ MORE.
