Grocery shortages seem to be easing across Las Vegas Valley

The panic buying-fueled grocery shortages that have led to lines at supermarkets and left shoppers scrambling for some basic supplies during the coronavirus outbreak seemed to be easing this week.

Gene, who declined to give his last name as he left a Trader Joe’s in Henderson, said he had found everything he was seeking by shopping around.

“I go to about three or four different places, wherever it’s cheapest,” he said. “I’ve been able to get about what I need.”

That pretty much summed up the situation Tuesday and Wednesday: It’s once again possible to find what you need, but you may have to go to several stores, because what one store doesn’t have, others do. It also helps if you have the time to shop around and the money to pay for the premium-level versions, which are all that’s available of some items.

On Wednesday morning, a Henderson Target had plenty of major-brand paper towels and toilet paper, and employees were restocking the slightly depleted shelves at 8:07 a.m., but there wasn’t an egg or an ounce of ground beef to be found.

Up the street at WinCo, eggs and ground beef were in plentiful supply, but the long paper-goods racks held nothing but an empty carton or two.

As for bottled water, which seemed to be an early target of panic buying, every stop on a two-day tour of the county found it everywhere. WinCo had stacks of pallets reaching to the ceiling lining one wall and numerous towering displays throughout the store.

Leaving WinCo on Tuesday morning, Megan Johnston said she had been finding what she needed there, but she usually buys paper products at Walmart, which has been beset by stubborn shortages.

“Luckily, I’m one of those people who can never have too much toilet paper,” she said. “I had stocked up just before, so I had plenty.”

Across the parking lot, Kyle and Brianna Davis said they hadn’t had any issues getting groceries at WinCo during the past few weeks. But Brianna said she knows that hasn’t been the situation everywhere.

“I’ve seen some stores that have been super-empty,” she said, citing Smith’s and Walmart. She also said she thinks supplies haven’t been as short in the suburbs as they have been in the central valley.

That was borne out somewhat Wednesday morning by Jescica Poulin, who was leaving Vons at Twain Avenue and Maryland Parkway with a heaping shopping cart. She said she’d been able to find “most” of what she sought, except for toilet paper and paper towels.

“Some items are getting easier to find,” Poulin said. Less-expensive cuts of meat, most pasta cuts, mashed potatoes, rice, canned chili and instant ramen remain elusive.

Around the corner at Filipino specialty market Seafood City, the rice aisle — where the floor was marked with social distancing stripes — had been decimated except for 25- and 50-pound bags.

“They have rice!” said Sheila Dungca as she loaded a cartful of bags into her vehicle. She said she didn’t buy any rice because she had a supply at home but was pleased to finally find eggs. Dungca said the shopping situation had improved over the past few weeks, when she had difficulty finding toilet paper, hand sanitizer, bleach and vitamin C for kids.

Across the valley Tuesday afternoon at Trader Joe’s in Downtown Summerlin, Mindy Claro said she’d found everything but toilet paper.

“You’re supposed to show up early in the morning,” she said with a shrug.

But at a Summerlin Albertsons, Stacy Hall was optimistic.

“I definitely think things are getting better,” Hall said, adding that in the earlier part of the panic-buying period, she’d had a tough time finding pasta, ground beef, tomato sauce, canned tomatoes and bread. But this week things were better. “I got what I needed.”

Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0474. Follow @HKRinella on Twitter.