Coronavirus Hoarding Appears To Have Stopped, But Lines Remain At Local Stores
BALWDIN HILLS (CBSLA) — Shoppers throughout the Southland have become accustomed to waiting in line to enter stores, and, at an Eagle Rock Trader Joe's, that means lining up along Colorado Boulevard while standing six feet apart.
"I never would have thought I'd be standing in line just to go shopping," Marjorie Lacson, a shopper, said.
But what felt completely outside the realm of normal in March has now become just another commonplace part of living in the midst of a pandemic.
"That's what I say, 'OK, that's life,' because I can't just think about myself, I have to think about other people," Chris Kouri, a shopper, said. "I don't want everybody to get COVID, so I'm going to follow the program."
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At the Eagle Rock Trader Joe's, only 26 shoppers can be inside the store at a time. And, at a busy Target in Baldwin Hills, regulars said they, too, have come to expect a line.
"Since the coronavirus started, every time," Sharlene Robaceau, a shopper, said.
And though the lines remain, shoppers said there was less competition for most items that were scarce at the beginning of the pandemic, such as toilet paper and baking products.
"I've been able to find toilet paper everywhere I go, so that's a good sign," one Target shopper said.
And at Trader Joe's, shortages and restrictions from the first weeks of the pandemic are no more — with shelves fully stocked and customers able to buy however much of a product they need.
"Generally, I haven't seen any shortages," Dan Murphy, a shopper, said.
