Emergency Shopping? Think Restaurant Supply Outlets

Emergency Shopping? Think Restaurant Supply Outlets

Last year, I wrote about how “going shopping” at a big-box store or membership-warehouse was absolutely the last thing I intended to do if the Stuff Hits The Fan (SHTF).

As I’m writing this right now, we are in a SHTF situation with the coronavirus COVID-19 shutdowns. Right now, as of this moment, we have yet to experience the drastic effects of the actual pandemic, but we are seeing the expected rush of panic buying (exemplified by, of all things, toilet paper). 

We’ve been seeing friends from all over the country’s pictures on social media of shelves absolutely empty, like this one below:

Do you know what the one thing I see as a constant of all of these photos? They all have “big box” shelf labels.

Know what that tells me? Don’t go to big box stores to get food in a SHTF situation. Then again, I already knew that!

If not Wally World, then where?

I’m going to be strait up, I’m not going anywhere where there is any type of SHTF shopping surge. They have nothing there that I need bad enough to risk my life over it. 

Then again, we are long-time preppers who have built a deep larder for just this situation… so we don’t need to go shopping when people are fighting in the isles over stealing goods out of other people’s carts.

We are, however, the exception, and I’ve made a lot of plans about what I would do if I were stuck into a situation where I was forced to shop. So… here’s what I would do.

First, I would go to the bank and get some cash

If it were me, I would pull a few thousand out of the emergency fund to make sure I had some cash on hand. That, however, is a solution that only works if you HAVE a fully funded emergency fund. Most people don’t.

If I didn’t have a fully funded EF, I would pull what I could out of the bank to keep it on hand (making sure that nothing would bounce) and if I had consumer debt like credit cards, I would just pay the interest or minimums on them for the next couple of months to give me the flexibility to have cash in hand. 

Cash = opportunities to obtain stuff through non-traditional sources.

I think we all can agree that at least to a certain scale, the S has HTF in America. Know what? People are not bartering gold and silver, cash is still king (as predicted). If the emergency REALLY starts, get a BUNCH of cash on hand.

Yes, there may come days when barter rules, but the first days of a SHTF situation will be “cash in hand”, not plastic, not junk silver coins.

Next, with that cash in hand, forget about going to Wally or Sam’s or Costco, they are swamped.

Look for “off the beaten path” places that stock in bulk.

Where would I shop if I were shopping for supplies tomorrow?

My first stop would be at a restaurant supply company’s retail outlet. Most restaurant supply companies have small retail outlets where you can buy restaurant supplies in bulk. 

In my area, that’s Kohl’s Supply and their Cash & Carry Showroom. You can plan ahead and order out of their warehouse, and they will have it ready for you to pick up at a prescribed time from a loading area. No mess, no fuss, no fighting crowds. If they don’t have what you want you will know without leaving the comfort of your home.

Next Choice?

My next choice would be to find buy-in-bulk cash and carry centers that offer both bulk and “seconds” items (items that were pulled from warehouses for being near or slightly out-of date).

Stores like our favorite one of these, Highway 2 Discount Groceries are absolute gems for prepping. We were in there this weekend and bought 5 bags of groceries for $28. Retail value of the stuff (with nothing more than 6-months out-of-date, clean stuff new-in-the-package) would be over $300. One of the best things that they have are “cheese ends”, the ends cut off of big batches of cheese and vacuum wrapped at the manufactures… I bought 7lbs of fresh Velveeta type cheese for $2 because it was a cut-off end. 

As an FYI, they also had pallets of toilet paper for .98 cents a package.

One caveat about dealing with Amish & Mennonite stores… pay cash. If they take cards, they charge more, and most places won’t take cards. 

Where else to look?

Farm & Home, Farm & Ranch or Fleet stores are great places to find items in bulk.

If your area has an LDS Cannery, it’s a great place to stock up (you do not have to be a member of the LDS to use their facility.

Mom & pop grocery stores in small towns. For example, the store in my town isn’t short of anything right now, except (for some strange reason) frozen corn. 

Also, regional chains in small towns. For example, we were in Centerville, Iowa which has a small HyVee store. We were there Friday, and they were fully stocked. We were picking up some cottage cheese (Anderson-Erickson Old Fashioned Cottage Cheese* to be exact) because it’s not distributed in our part of Missouri, and we were the only people not picking up toilet paper. The checkout woman said that, no exaggeration, the manager had over 100 phone calls from people asking if the store still had TP.

The woman behind us drove down from Des Moines to buy TP. That’s an 86 mile trip each way. For TP. Sigh.

Think Outside The Big Box

When a SHTF situation is going, the last thing that I want to do is to fight crowds at a big box. If you need stuff, look for smarter, better places to shop. The object isn’t to find the cheapest price, the object is to reduce your risk while shopping and get what you need so you can bug in as quickly as possible. 

*Pro Tip: Anderson-Erickson Old Fashioned Cottage Cheese is Iowa’s gift to the world… be sure to try some next time you are in Des Moines. And no, A-E doesn’t sponsor this blog.