The metro Atlanta rush on grocery and hardware stores continued Tuesday after retailers were mobbed Monday in advance of the latest winter storm.
Matt and Nancy Boyle of Sandy Springs went to the Publix on Hammond Drive near Perimeter Mall after having little luck finding staples on Monday. They bought meat, produce, bread, Coca-Colas and Oreos, among other items.
“We got the staples with Coke and Oreos,” Nancy Boyle quipped. The Connecticut natives said they were concerned about the chance of power outage, but said they felt prepared.
“We’re from the north, so we’re ready for the snow,” Matt Boyle said.
Shoppers told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that staples like bread, milk and eggs were hard to come by in some locations. Other items like canned vegetables, fresh fruit and firewood were also hot sellers at grocery stores. Many metro stores looked picked over, some shoppers said, and stores were hustling to keep up with demand.
Brenda Reid, a spokeswoman for Publix, said the Florida-based grocery chain increased its deliveries to its nearly 150 metro area stores to try to keep keep stores well-stocked.
“We’re better positioned this time around than last time,” she said, referring to the Jan. 28 storm that froze metro Atlanta in its tracks and left people stranded in their cars and some children in their schools.
Lisa Mangess, a special education teacher at Peachtree Middle School in Dunwoody, spent the night at her school helping care of students during the last storm. She stopped by the Publix on Hammond Drive for a rotisserie chicken, some fruit and snack food.
She said she wasn’t as worried about this storm with school already having canceled and with students staying home with their parents.
“I have food and it’s just me, myself and I,” she said.
Beans and tomatoes along with bread and bottled water were in high demand at Kroger on Johnson Ferry Road in East Cobb. As a slushy mix of rain and sleet fell outside the store Tuesday, shoppers snatched up groceries and filled prescriptions.
Rhonda McCarthy was on her second shopping trip, this time to pick up toilet paper and beverages. During the January snow, McCarthy’s husband had to spend the night in his car at the airport before taking MARTA to Sandy Springs. From there, he walked six miles on icy roads into Cobb County wearing his business suit and shoes. This time, he’s coming home from work early and the family is preparing to spend a couple days at inside.
“I stocked up because I know we’re not going to be able to go out,” she said.
At an Ace Hardware store in Dunwoody, a manager said the store was out of products to melt ice by midday Tuesday, and things like batteries, flashlights and firewood were hard to keep on the shelves.
Jason Eden and his three sons wanted to buy some salt to melt the expected ice, but bought a disc-shaped sled instead.
“They were out of salt so we couldn’t salt the driveway,” Eden said, “so we’ll just have to sled on it.”
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