ST. CHARLES 鈥 Toilet paper, it appears, is back on store shelves.
After a few days of panic-buying, induced by fears of the national port workers strike, big-box shops in the St. 亚洲无码 area on Friday had restocked.
But, at least for a while, at least in some places, toilet paper was hard to come by.
鈥淗i, this is Sam鈥檚 Club St. Charles. We鈥檙e out of paper towels and toilet paper.鈥
That鈥檚 how an employee answered calls Thursday to the warehouse store on Veterans Memorial Parkway. Consumers were squirreling away toilet paper, afraid closed ports on the East and Gulf coasts would cut off supplies 鈥 and not knowing the vast majority of toilet paper is produced domestically.
By Friday, the shortage was over. Many grocery and warehouse stores in the St. 亚洲无码 region had restocked. Packs of toilet paper were stacked high, with reinforcements on the way in afternoon deliveries.
People are also reading…
The worries were sparked by about 45,000 union dockworkers walking off the job Tuesday as their contract with the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents ports and shipping companies, expired. Workers struck for three days demanding higher wages and limits on automation in a new six-year contract.
On Thursday, the union agreed to continue the contract until Jan. 15.
Even after dockworkers returned to ports Friday, some shoppers stocked up on toilet paper and paper towels, leaving a few store aisles barren, but most retailers have been able to keep up with the demand.
Liz Hardin, of Wentzville, was pushing a shopping cart full of eight packs of bathroom tissue 鈥 that鈥檚 over 200 rolls 鈥 in the St. Peters Costco Friday. She said she hadn鈥檛 been able to find any at the nearby Sam鈥檚 Club and Walmart the night before and wanted to stock up for the company she works for, Metro Lawn Sprinkler Systems.
She said the company of 50 employees ran out of toilet paper four years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many consumers panic-bought and hoarded toilet paper in the early months of lockdown.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 realize until it was too late,鈥 Hardin said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to be in the same boat again.鈥
A few miles east, shelves at the Walmart Supercenter on Veterans Memorial Parkway were devoid of toilet paper Friday. A worker said the store was expecting its daily delivery truck that afternoon, so aisles would soon be refilled.
It鈥檚 not the strike that鈥檚 causing empty shelves, but rather consumer panic, experts say.
Courtney Cothren, an associate teaching professor in the marketing department at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said this uptick in toilet paper purchases demonstrates peoples鈥 鈥渉erd mentality鈥 behavior, where one鈥檚 belief or actions conform to those in the group around them. Plus, COVID-19 shortages are still fresh in consumers鈥 memories, which is probably exacerbating the problem, she said.
鈥淧eople see it on social media, they鈥檝e experienced it,鈥 Cothren said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e thinking, 鈥楾his is something I can do to control the situation.鈥欌
Supply chain disruptions and spiked demand resulted in empty store shelves during the COVID-19 pandemic, as shoppers sought hand sanitizer, toilet paper, some canned foods and baby formula.
It doesn鈥檛 take a lot of irrational panic-buyers to cause empty shelves, said Fausto Gonzalez, assistant professor of marketing at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. 亚洲无码.
鈥淓ven people mis-predicting what others are going to do still influences people to buy a little extra, which still moves the needle,鈥 Gonzalez said. 鈥淎ll it takes is for your average consumer to buy a little extra and for that to permeate to others.鈥
Because stores don鈥檛 overstock inventory, they won鈥檛 be able to refill shelves as quickly, causing a panic run on supplies, he added.
Gonzalez said when things are uncertain, such as the dockworkers strike affecting prices and availability of goods, people look to others to see what to do.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like a feedback loop,鈥 Gonzalez said. 鈥淧eople assume people are going to act this way and it鈥檚 feeding and contributing to panic-buying.鈥
Most of St. 亚洲无码鈥 transported goods are shipped in from the West coast, whose workers are under a different contract than the East and Gulf coast ILA workers. And products like bananas, cherries, vehicle parts, coffee, sugar, furniture and clothing will be affected 鈥 not toilet paper or paper towels.
About 85% of U.S. toilet paper, paper towels, napkins and tissues is supplied by U.S. producers, and so travels by truck and train, according to the American Forest and Paper Association. In Cape Girardeau, the Procter & Gamble Company plant manufactures and distributes Charmin toilet paper, Bounty paper towels and Pampers diapers.
鈥淩est assured, tissue products are being manufactured and shipped 鈥 just as they are 52 weeks each year,鈥 Heidi Brock, the American Forest and Paper Association president and CEO, said in a statement Thursday.