The blizzard sweeping across the Northeast is causing such a frenzy that shoppers are buying way more than bread and milk.
“There’s a run on toilet paper,” says Ian Joskowitz, chief operating officer of the West Side Market, which has five stores in New York City.
“Outside of [Hurricane] Sandy, this is the most extreme” shopping rush Joskowitz believes he’s ever seen.
At Zabar’s, a family-run supermarket in Manhattan, bagels and lox are flying off the shelves.
Avocados sales jumped 220% Sunday compared to a normal day at the Stop & Shops’ 182 stores in the New York metro area.
“People might be thinking ‘what if we lose electricity, how am I going to make my guacamole for the Super Bowl?'” Arlene Putterman, a company spokesperson, says.
Customers also seem concerned about keeping the lights on and staying warm. Duraflame log sales jumped up 250% Sunday and battery sales skyrocketed 500% above a normal day, according to Putterman.
Walmart sold out of eggs Sunday night in its Neptune City, N.J., according to a store manager. The shopping splurge has even surprised New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
“Why the rush on bread? I don’t get it, but what the heck,” Gov. Christie said at a press conference Monday.
After a deluge of shoppers on Sunday, the rush started early Monday. A Stop and Shop in Tarrytown, N.Y., had lines of customers by 6:30 a.m., according to store manager Mike Pitino. That was only minutes after the store opened at 6 a.m.
With mother nature ready to dump up to 2 feet of snow over the Northeast, shoppers are clearing shelves, managers say.
“They all think the world is coming to an end,” said Scott Goldshine, the manager of Zabar’s.
He quadrupled his bread orders for Monday after selling out Sunday. “They cleaned us out of everything.”