By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — The general public’s fear of being homebound or quarantined, as a result of state mandates to slow the spread of the Coronavirus, has caused a rush on certain products at the grocery stores.

Last week, the shelves stood empty where toilet paper and paper towels had been stocked. The coolers where eggs and butter are located were bare. In the section of the store where loaves of bread once lined up, slim pickings were left.

This is the case at supermarkets around the region. 

The owner of Umbrella Factory Supermarket in Naples, Dave Allenson, said his customers have been polite and understanding about the situation. Meanwhile, his suppliers are making deliveries almost daily to keep up with the pace of the purchases.

“People are really good about it. They understand that we are out,” Allenson said on Tuesday morning.

“People are scared and they are filling their homes with the necessities,” he said.

He noticed the shelves were getting emptied last Thursday, he said. 

“Sanitizers and paper towels and toilet paper” were the first to go, he said. 

People also bought “a lot of grocery items like milk, eggs, butter, hamburger, chicken, a lot of frozen food items. Everything in the bread aisle,” he said.

Other grocery stores are facing the same dilemma, he said.

“We are basically supplied by Hannaford. We get deliveries three times a week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They’ve got shortages too. But, they’re doing the best they can,” Allenson said.

“Everyone is trying to keep up with supply and demand,” he said. 

“It’s kind of tough this time of year. March and April are our slowest time of year because we really don’t have tourists. It’s generally a slow period. We are probably ordering what we are usually ordering in the summer, with the help we have during the winter,” he said.

Some of the vendors that Allenson does business with during the summer have stepped up to supply the store with food.

A policy was put in place to limit the number of paper products per customers.

“We open at 7 a.m. every day. Usually that is the best time to shop. Most of our clients are elderly. They shop early in the morning and they shop daily. They buy small quantities. They buy small packages,” Allenson said.

Those customers, too, have been understanding about the items on their list being gone and patient about those items being restocked.

“Everyone is very good about it. Everyone understands,” he said.

Allenson said that how quickly items have disappeared from store shelves compares to the Ice Storm in 1998, and also other snowstorms that are predicted to last a couple days. That is when people buy larger supplies, thinking they will be stuck at home for a length of time.  

“Usually, when there is a storm, they buy different items if they have to stay home. As far as paper goods go, those go fast,” he said.

Hannaford Supermarket in Bridgton was unable to comment to the media without permission from corporate headquarters.