Monday’s Wandering Thoughts

My wife and I have noticed a striking trend: shelves in various kinds of stores are emptier and emptier.

We were talking about this earlier in the week when at a Rite Aid. Many shelves were empty, but it also seemed like the store had rearranged the shelves, providing much wider aisle space but reducing their shelf space. She and I discussed whether it was an extension of unresolved supply chain issues encountered during the pandemic, Rite Aid was in trouble, or if it was just this store.

But yesterday, we headed to a larger town, Medford, and visiting the mall and several other locations. The wider aisles and paucity of goods were encountered in Kohl’s, Macy’s, Target, Ulta, and several other stores.

It used to be that when we were in these places, so many goods were being provided that moving between racks and shelves was a distinct challenge. Now the script seems flipped.

I did some research. Empty shelves in Rite Aid stores in Bakersfield, CA, was attributed to Rite Aid’s bankruptcy.

The others? I couldn’t find reasoning provided but it wasn’t a deep dive. Perhaps it’s just my perception, or a local phenomenon, or the stores have simply changed policies.

I don’t know. Like many things in life, I’m just left wondering.