ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – As a winter storm approaches Tuesday night, last-minute shoppers are out in full force, stocking up at grocery and hardware stores.
With snow on the way, shovels and salt are in high demand.
“Just make sure my driveway and sidewalks are clear, so the kids don’t fall,” said Andrew Young, a customer. “This is the number one priority.”
For many shoppers, finding one was a game of cat and mouse; they had to go to multiple stores to find one.
“Because I work in the medical professional industry, I just need to make sure I can get to work if my car is stuck,” said Khusbu Patel. “I don’t have a shovel, so I need one to plow my car out.”
Over at the grocery store, so many people are flocking inside, they say it’s been hard to find a cart. Last-minute shopping is leading to long lines.
“I thought it was going to be pretty bad, and it’s as bad as I anticipated,” said Steven Rosenblum, a grocery shopper. “People like to freak out when it snows.”
The concerns over not having the groceries needed to hunker down snowballed into large crowds and low stock for staple items. At the Schnucks in Ladue, it was packed to the brim.
“The lines are big, it’s crowded to get in between in the aisles,” said Miles Richardsonan, an Instacart shopper. “After we were done with our first order, we had four or five orders pop up, so I’d say it’s busier than it usually is.”
“We’ve had a lot of orders, but there’s just so many people shopping, there’s been kind of like a low on a bunch of stuff that people are looking for,” said Evan Berschback, an Instacart shopper. “So it’s been hard to fulfill 100 percent of the orders; there’s just so much stuff missing, it looks empty.”
As the St. Louis region braces for a winter storm, shoppers filled the parking lots and checkout areas to stock up fast.
“You never know when they say there’s going to be a lot of snow,” said Cathy Cohn.
Another shopper said going to the store wasn’t on their to-do list.
“This is the last place I wanted to be today, but I was supposed to go out of town, and my trip got canceled,” said Laura McBride.
For those still planning a trip to the store, officials urged everyone to stay home and stay off the roads if possible.