Supermarkets across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. were packed as people prepared for the biggest snowstorm in a decade.
Toilet paper, bread and milk. No one really knows why those are the blizzard must-haves, but those are the items that send people to the grocery store before the first snowflake falls.
The shelves in many stores were bare, and items you never thought would be hard to find are missing.
To find bananas, WTOP Senior Broadcast Producer Mike Jakaitis and his wife Kellie had to stop at three different grocery stores before they hit the jackpot.
On Friday, shoppers at the Giant Food on Rockville Pike seemed to have luck on their side as they stocked up, even if some told WTOP that they were not proud of their purchases.
“I spent $30 on almost nothing but bread,” Regina Wood said. “I bought two things of bagels, three loaves of bread, some cinnamon raisin bread. Yeah, it’s embarrassing.”
Wood said while the store was busy, the lines went quick.
“Yes, a lot of bread choices are gone,” Wood said.
Could that be because Wood bought all of the bread?
“Yeah, I did. I’m sorry,” Wood said with a laugh.
While the grocery store may be the last place a lot of us would want to be on a Friday afternoon before a snowstorm, Wood said there is no place she would rather be.
“It’s like the day before Christmas, you’ve got to get in the store and get something,” Wood said.
While a lot of the shoppers came in with a game plan, someone who gave little thought to the shopping list was Brian of North Bethesda who was sent to the store with a shopping list from his wife: “I get whatever my wife is telling me to get,” he said.
“She did. I got it right here,” Brian added. “Let’s look here: syrup, muffins, bagels, some shredded cheese.”
Tracy, who made a quick stop at the Giant before heading home to Prince George’s County, told WTOP that the staff was doing a great job restocking the shelves.
The issue for Jennifer was not that she couldn’t find the items she wanted to buy; the problem was carrying them.
“Crazy busy. I couldn’t even get a cart, so I just had my things in my hands,” she said. “People were so friendly, but oh, my goodness, let me get out of here.”
After standing in a long line, Connor Geary left the Giant with a big smile on his face.
“My girlfriend said since we’re getting snowed in, we can eat a little bit unhealthy,” Geary said. “I got the Boulder Canyon chips. We also got Airheads Xtremes, they’re my favorite.”
Geary didn’t leave the store without also picking up his girlfriend’s favorite snack — gummy worms.
As he got ready to head home, he said he didn’t need to visit the liquor store, which was on the other side of the parking lot, because that had been taken care of.
“I got a bottle of Captain Morgan and a few Michelobs,” Geary said with a laugh.
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