I apologize for the lengthy post , but think I need to update the prior posts I’ve made for local shortages….particularly the Fred Meyer (Kroger) in my town. They’d already vastly increased empty spaces, removed and shortened aisles a whole bunch, added walls and spaces in the formerly well-stocked clothing area, which is now perhaps a quarter its former size - or less.
Today, every single aisle had many empty areas but the worst was in the dairy, eggs, cold cut, bacon aisle and most especially the meat dept. Very large area has very little for sale. I saw lots of things like pickles or a random package of sliced cheese instead of beef, pork or poultry. Then I realized they’d removed one of the open air fridges that holds special sausages, ring sausage, ham, etc. The space on both ends is noticeably larger but I don’t really think many customers are paying attention.
The same in the deli area, down to pickles and cheese where they had a vast array of offerings of meats, cheeses, condiments, etc. Some refrigeration was removed…and the hot take out now offers 4 things instead of 30+ they’ve always had.
One more comment. A couple in the meat section were discussing how little there was for sale, and then decided they will come back another day. I almost spoke up and said they’d better get what they can before it gets worse.