SHAWNEE, KS. — Shoppers in the Kansas City area have probably seen pictures on social media of empty shelves and cleared out grocery stores ahead of the weekend winter storm.
Essential items like milk, eggs and bread were hard to find before and during the storm. Kansas City road closures on both sides of the state line made it difficult to keep the shelves stocked.
No grocery store in the area was immune to the pre-storm shopping rush.
KSHB 41's Isabella Ledonne asked shoppers what shopping before the storm was like.
"Chaotic," Pamela Ross said.
"Pretty busy," Stanley Adams said.
"My sister came in here [to Hy-Vee] and said the shelves were bare," Dianne Verrill said.
So, many shoppers were surprised to find everything they needed at the Hy-Vee in Shawnee on Tuesday.
"I didn't know if they'd be able to get trucks back in because it's taking so long for the roads to get cleared," Michael Maas said. "But the shelves are stocked so we were pleasantly surprised."
Their shopping trips were quick and easy, a stark contrast to what many saw a few days ago.
"There was nothing on the shelves, like they were out of bread, they were out of milk, they were out of eggs," Ross said. "It was kind of nice to be able to walk in and not worry about being able to find what I needed like coffee and coffee filters. I was really worried about that."
It was not an easy task to get the shelves stocked. Store manager Karla Quandt explained it took a lot of preparation and communication.
"I think it's fair to say we were all shopped hard, right?" Quandt said. "It was probably some of the lowest stock levels that I have seen at my store personally. But what we did is we upped one of our grocery trucks and we tried to get our refrigerated trucks early."
Essential grocery workers are now getting ready for the next weekend rush, making sure all the essentials are ready to go.
"[Tuesday] was one of the best days that I can say I walked the store and say that we looked great and we're ready for customers again this weekend," Quandt said.
Hy-Vee in Kansas City is having a fuel saver sale special on Wednesday, Jan. 8 and this weekend where customers who spend $50 will receive $0.50 in fuel savings.
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KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne covers issues surrounding government accountability and solutions. Share your story with Isabella.