Need TP? Las Vegas database may be able to help
Toilet paper now has its own tracker.
As several Las Vegas businesses ramp up for the beginning of Phase One on Saturday, the mystery of elusive TP persists.
After panic-buyers stripped grocery store shelves and convenience store endcaps of the precious product, TP purchases were relegated to social media exchanges and parking lot transactions.
A Las Vegas design and product studio has launched a shared database to track the inventory and availability of the commode commodity, which has largely disappeared during the coronavirus pandemic
TP Finder, by Deep Space Program, is a fully crowdsourced platform where anyone can view or report sightings of toilet paper in nearby grocery and convenience stores.
From inside the store, users can log on to TPfinder.co and then select their location and choose one of four stock options: none (no packages), limited (a few packages left), standard (a few shelves of packages), surplus (a whole aisle).
Since launching a month ago, the website has expanded to track store inventories of other in-demand items, including paper towels, hand sanitizer, sanitary wipes and sanitary sprays.
Deep Space Program says over 150,000 users have contributed the platform by sharing nearby sightings.
As the pandemic continues, TP Finder plans to keep essential item inventories publicly available using insights from local communities.
Contact Janna Karel at jkarel@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jannainprogress on Twitter.
