Frustrated shoppers are already dealing with unpredictable product shortages and empty shelves at their favorite grocery stores.
But if they’re hoping to pivot to a neighborhood convenience store to fill in some everyday necessities, they might be out of luck there, too.
But convenience store operators say the ongoing supply chain disruptions have also impacted their ability to adequately meet the fill-in needs of shoppers in larger cities and, more importantly, the daily essential needs of customers in secondary markets and rural areas where a convenience store might be the only store in town for food items.
“Here’s the magnitude of the problem right now,” Smartt said. “As a chain, we’re probably averaging 6,500 to 8,000 outs a week from manufacturers,” he said. ‘Outs’ refers to a specific branded product that is out of stock and can’t be delivered that week. “It’s a daily struggle to buy substitute brands from alternative suppliers for products we carry. It’s a war zone because everyone is doing the same thing,” he said. “It’s a logistical nightmare and sometimes the substitutes that we have to buy are more expensive.”
“In a lot of communities, we’re it,” said Mike Welsh, the company’s senior vice president of operations. “It’s a town with a mountain surrounding it, for example. There’s a high school and a town hall. It’s a small community where the school football team comes to us after a game to celebrate.”“A local health department contacted us about a store in southwest Virginia to use it as a mobile location for vaccinations,” said Welsh.
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