Behind Charlotte’s run on toilet paper
Not hoarding, just being sensible, shoppers say
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Pre-dawn stampede to Aisle 9 at SouthPark Harris Teeter in search of Mega rolls of Charmin; ‘This is war’
Sure, the 150 people lined up just before 7 a.m. outside SouthPark’s Harris Teeter on Saturday were up early.
And of course they’re worried about the coronavirus. Some wore masks. People kept their distance.
But no, person after person said in interviews — this isn’t some pre-dawn raid for toilet paper. Brett Rise was looking for chicken. Nancy Lindstrom sought “staples, bread, stuff like that.” Rochelle McColl needed “fruits and vegetables, meat if we can find it.”
However, each one said when pressed, if the opportunity presented itself … and there were toilet paper still available when they entered the store … well, what rational person wouldn’t buy at least a few more rolls? And who really knows how long this crisis might last, or what might happen with critical toilet paper supplies in the future? With toilet paper vanishing as quickly as it appears on the shelves, can you say you would do differently?
Around town, desperation is sinking in. Sally Brown of Myers Park said a Target in Wesley Chapel showed available toilet paper online, but it was out by the time she made the 40-minute drive there. There are stories of rolls being swiped from public restrooms. Amazon says toilet paper orders might not arrive until late May.
Promptly at 7, a store employee unlocked one of the entrances with a cheery, “Good morning, everybody!” Around the corner, before a second door could be unlocked, somebody in the crowd grumbled, “Open the door, already.”
Then, the rush was on. Many shelves on Aisle 9 were empty — but there were several dozen packs of toilet paper. The crowd converged. Some grabbed the big packs and headed to the registers; others continued shopping. A gray-haired man with a black jacket and jeans emerged first from the masses, with a cart heaped with six 16-roll packages of Charmin, Mega-size. At the register, told of sales limits, he seemed bewildered: “I can only buy three?”
In an interview, he declined to give his name but said at home, he’s down to two rolls: “It’s an emergency.”
At 7:10, a woman in a white sweatshirt snagged one of the last packages of toilet paper. “This is war,” she joked.
Some day, there will be academic papers written about this period in our history, whether these buying habits are rational or not, and how consumers react faced with the unknown.
In the coming weeks, we’ll face a lot of uncertainties. The people at this grocery store this morning agreed on this: In a pinch, you certainly don’t want to be without toilet paper.
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Editor: Tony Mecia; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire