Stocking Up on Essentials

One of our grocery stores is going out of business.   I've been stopping by daily, picking up staples that won't go bad.  It's been an interesting study in human nature.

Husband and I have been picking up Oil, Quinoa, Beans, Rice, Gluten Free Flour, and Gluten Free Pasta.  Oh, and cat litter and cat toys.    Yeah, we live life on the edge, let me tell you.  Three grown children and these two Empty Nesters really know how to party!

But the most fascinating thing for me to see has been what has been snatched off the shelves.
1) Frozen Pizza
2) Chips
3) Sodas
4) Boxed Mixes - (hamburger helper, tuna helper, cake mixes, etc.)
5) Boxed Cereal
6) Ice Cream
7) Frozen Pizza
8) Toilet Paper

It's an interesting list, isn't it?

I stopped by yesterday after work to pick up another box of cat litter, some Grape Seed Oil, and a bottle of my favorite shampoo.  I used the self check out and looked over at the check out next to me, where a cashier was checking out somebody.  I have to admit, I stopped to watch.  What I was seeing was kind of like a train wreck.

She had eight carts full of stuff that she was checking out.  One was full of nothing but chicken.  (By the way, there are signs all over the meat case that the fresh meat is NOT on the 30% off that the rest of the store is on.)  One cart was full of ice cream.  One was full of frozen meals.  That's 3 carts so far.  There was a cart of Cereal.  A cart of lunch meat.  I saw a cart of paper products - toilet paper, paper plates, and napkins.  I didn't get a really good glance at the last carts of stuff.  I didn't want my fascination to be too obvious.  I heard her telling the cashier that she never had done anything like this before, but that "the deals were just too good to pass up".

The one thing that hit me as I was watching her check out her stuff was that if she had never done anything like this before, then did she have the freezer space to hold that much food?  If she doesn't, then what was she going to do with all of the ice cream and frozen dinners?

Anyway, husband and I are still picking up staples a couple of items at a time.  Since it is just the two of us at home we don't need to stock up on the types of things we would purchase if we still had kids living at home.  (Hello, weird grains we've always wanted to try!)

Have you ever had a grocery store near you go out of business?  What kinds of things do you pick up when the discounts are big?