4 Reasons Your Grocery Store’s Shelves are Bare

If you have been to a grocery store lately, you’ve experienced it: hit-and-miss shopping, with big product gaps in one store aisle after another.

Where did those products go? According to The Washington Post, four factors are at work in preventing store shelves from being as full as they normally are.

Omicron

This may be the chief culprit, at least at the moment. As the omicron variant of COVID-19 surges across the nation, illness is sidelining truckers, grocery store workers and everyone in between.

And even before omicron arrived, employment at grocery stores was down, thanks to:

• The well documented and widespread shortage of workers that is plaguing all types of businesses
• The fact that a sizable number of existing employees are unwilling to acquiesce to vaccine mandates, and thus are losing their jobs

All of these factors are combining to keep grocery stores from being properly stocked.

Winter weather

Snow and ice in parts of the Mid-Atlantic region have made driving more difficult. In addition, some people stock up on certain items in anticipation of the bad weather, further emptying store shelves.

Supply chain issues

Supply chain woes have created problems throughout the pandemic, and they continue. Many goods the U.S. imports are becoming tough to find as workers in overseas locations get sick. In addition, some ships with goods are still waiting at sea to be unloaded.

More people eating at home

Prior to the pandemic, Americans loved to eat in restaurants. But that desire has waned since COVID-19 arrived.

As more people prepare their own meals, they shop at grocery stores to fill their pantries. And that means more competition for items on already-strained store shelves.

Looking to cut your grocery shopping costs? Check out “13 Unusual but Effective Ways to Save on Groceries.”