# Grocery store what if



## Dixie (Sep 20, 2010)

*When I have to wait in a grocery store line for any length of time, my mind runs......not wild but amuck! I observe what people buy (checking for other preppers), wonder what they would do if the shtf, etc.

Last night I visualized them announcing over the intercom, that the s... had indeed hit the fan. What would I grab, at the last minute, that would really benefit us? Knowing this could be the last time I would visit the store for a long time. 
So my question, if you were at the grocery store and they announced TSHTF...what would you grab?*


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## PamsPride (Dec 21, 2010)

Does my credit card still work?? All of the #10 cans of food, rice, flour, and sugar. 
Grab my keys and get home!


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## Von Helman (Oct 31, 2009)

What was that old TV game show where they had shopping carts and had to get as much stuff as they could within in certain mime limit. LOL 

In this type of situation knowing your store, its lay out where everything is and then knowing what you need with be the greatest advantage. 

I'm in a different situation as I own a small grocery store so I already own everything so all I need to do is shut the door and lock them and presto I have my supplies. (until I am looted, lol)


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

water water and more water


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

And lot n lots of cooking oil, ham, chicken and beef stock powder, pastas, salt, sugar, daily vitamins, vitamin C, disposable razors, toothbrushes, baking soda, baking powder, yeast, hydrogen peroxide, bleach, fem products, canning jars n lids, zip lock bags -- then take it all out to the car and tear a 50 dollar bill in half, give one half to a teenaged kid to guard your car and tell him he gets the other half when you return, then go back into the store for more stuff.


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## Ration-AL (Apr 18, 2012)

Von Helman said:


> What was that old TV game show where they had shopping carts and had to get as much stuff as they could within in certain mime limit. LOL
> 
> In this type of situation knowing your store, its lay out where everything is and then knowing what you need with be the greatest advantage.
> 
> I'm in a different situation as I own a small grocery store so I already own everything so all I need to do is shut the door and lock them and presto I have my supplies. (until I am looted, lol)


supermarket sweep, and you go for the hams or turkeys....they were worth the most on the show ;-)


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## BlissMommy (Apr 18, 2012)

Powdered milk, sugar, flour, eggs, salt!


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

anything that is a lot of calories for the money, rice, flour, pasta


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## FatTire (Mar 20, 2012)

All the booze they have.


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## Toffee (Mar 13, 2012)

Actually, I'd probably go for some staples, but mostly the luxury items like sodas and coffee. Also, I'd buy bags of bulk stuff from the bakery and buckets. Probably as much canning stuff as possible. Then books and magazines.


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## Dixie (Sep 20, 2010)

PamsPride said:


> Does my credit card still work?? All of the #10 cans of food, rice, flour, and sugar.
> Grab my keys and get home!


Yes Pam, right then it would work...unless power failure, but there maybe chaos so it might not be needed. Good list.


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## Dixie (Sep 20, 2010)

Von Helman said:


> What was that old TV game show where they had shopping carts and had to get as much stuff as they could within in certain mime limit. LOL
> 
> In this type of situation knowing your store, its lay out where everything is and then knowing what you need with be the greatest advantage.
> 
> I'm in a different situation as I own a small grocery store so I already own everything so all I need to do is shut the door and lock them and presto I have my supplies. (until I am looted, lol)


*
Yeah, that's what I invisioned, running through the store with a cart overflowing! lol

True about knowing your store layout, I do.

Maybe iron bars should be in your future. Just a thought*.


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## Dixie (Sep 20, 2010)

partdeux said:


> water water and more water


*Yep...my thoughts too.*


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## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

FatTire said:


> All the booze they have.


I'm in...:beercheer:


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## Dixie (Sep 20, 2010)

*Great lists guys! Think I will print out every one's list and add on stuff as I think about it then carry it in my wallet.....ya never know when it will come in handy! *


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## FatTire (Mar 20, 2012)

Liquor is, according to many who have survived real life shtf situations, the best barter there is, specially if you wanna get to your loved ones and get them out alive. Hotel Rwanda comes to mind...


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

Dixie said:


> *So my question, if you were at the grocery store and they announced TSHTF...what would you grab?*


I'd grab my kids hands and get the hell out of the store as fast as possible.

If you heard them announce SHTF, so did everyone else. Being already stocked up, preppers should be good to go. The sheeple in the store will be going wild. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near that. I'd take those precious minutes available to get my butt home (or to a BOL) while everyone else is fighting it out.

Now, that's my plan but let's say I was to stay in the store. I'd be hitting the medications isle. When everyone else is now living off pop tarts, potato chips and vodka, I'll have the pepcid and aspirin. A nice position for bartering.


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

Dixie said:


> *When I have to wait in a grocery store line for any length of time, my mind runs......not wild but amuck! I observe what people buy (checking for other preppers), wonder what they would do if the shtf, etc.
> 
> Last night I visualized them announcing over the intercom, that the s... had indeed hit the fan. What would I grab, at the last minute, that would really benefit us? Knowing this could be the last time I would visit the store for a long time.
> So my question, if you were at the grocery store and they announced TSHTF...what would you grab?*


If panic set in and all the folks there started running around I would just get the heck out of Dodge and go home. If, as usual due to my shopping timing, there were only a few folks I would hit the Little Debbie display! I have not been allowed to have those kinds of treats for a long time and I would splurge, go home, eat them all, get sick and be done with my fixation on forbidden fruit!!

Actually, if there was time I would grab a bunch of dog food bags. With the new pup I have not had enough time to stockpile more than 4 bags ahead. I would pile a shopping cart with all it could handle and then run for home. On the way to the checkout I would cruise by the candy isle and load up on hard candy too. Candy and such are things that are not in my long term plans so I would take advantage of the opportunity. Not that sweets are not a good thing to have for a SHTF situation. Just that I have been investing in more important kinds of supplies, critical to actual survival. I have a few bags of sugar that I could make my own with using extracts or herbs to flavor if the need arose anyway.


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

ZoomZoom said:


> I'd grab my kids hands and get the hell out of the store as fast as possible.
> 
> If you heard them announce SHTF, so did everyone else. Being already stocked up, preppers should be good to go. The sheeple in the store will be going wild. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near that. I'd take those precious minutes available to get my butt home (or to a BOL) while everyone else is fighting it out.


I agree completely. Most of the time, when I hit the grocery store it is only for the staples to get me through the next two weeks, so there is probably nothing in my cart that I would absolutely need. I would use that time to get a head start on getting wherever I was going.


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## Frugal_Farmers (Dec 13, 2010)

If they made an annoucement over the intercom, I would high tail it out of there ASAP. All hell would break loose in a matter of minutes and things would get ugly REAL quick. Think back to how people became animals just over Black Friday sales. I would gas up if possible, but would get to the house right away and put the hillbilly homeland security plan into action.


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## sailaway (Mar 12, 2009)

Nutritional stuff with long shelf life! if there is such a thing?:scratch


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## cabinetman (Apr 14, 2012)

ZoomZoom said:


> I'd grab my kids hands and get the hell out of the store as fast as possible.
> 
> If you heard them announce SHTF, so did everyone else. Being already stocked up, preppers should be good to go. The sheeple in the store will be going wild. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near that. I'd take those precious minutes available to get my butt home (or to a BOL) while everyone else is fighting it out.
> 
> Now, that's my plan but let's say I was to stay in the store. I'd be hitting the medications isle. When everyone else is now living off pop tarts, potato chips and vodka, I'll have the pepcid and aspirin. A nice position for bartering.


+++1

I'd be out of there in a shot. So, you go back and fill up a cart? You get to a checkout isle and four other people in front of you? You've got a 18 year old trying to make the register work and who knows if the ATM or CC will work? Does she ask you if you have coupons or "paper or plastic". When something does happen, you'll have probably 30 minutes to get where you have to go before roads clog and stores are mobbed. Hopefully by then you've got everything put up and plans made already. My wife and I have a special phrase so if I call her at work she knows I'm uber serious about her leaving immediately and coming home.

The LAST PLACE I would want to be is in a foodstore when that happens!

Rome


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

grocery stroe shopping is really only an option if the geenral population doesnt know something is coming but you are among the few who figured it out.
While that is an enviable position to be in it is also not one we can take for granted.
Also in one of the most realistic possible near term SHTF scenario ( pandemic) social distancing is key.

So only above average informed individual can make that choice and then he must carefuly weigh the pros and cons of struggling with a lot of dangerous people for some last minute buys, when most on this board can probably tolerate sitting that chaos out and still eb better prepapred..

But I dont want ot hijack the thread is it what one should get:

If other dont know about the coming problem, large bags of rice come to mind.. the most food for your money, pasta too.
There are also some things we NEED daily that are not food and missing them could also be dangerous:
Toilet paper, toothbrushes toothpaste.

Toothbrushes and toothpaste can be easily horded since they last a loooong time.
If you find a generic listerine on sale buy a few of those too.

The folks who mentioend alcohol as barter item are correct.

But just keep in mind this is exactly the kind of thing trash likes to loot from stores and that is quite possibly the location in the store where buying may spontaneously turn into looting.

just food for thought


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## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

Make sure you are in a Wal Mart. Quickly identify the get er done types and take command of your new forces and lock the doors. Go to the Gun section and dole out the guns and ammo to your army. Bark commands to the less than qualified and hunker down for the next year or so.. If there are wimps in the bunch that do not want to survive, or want to go home, let them go.. :dunno:


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## Hooch (Jul 22, 2011)

i saw some pictures yesterday of folks in japan after the earthquake last year in grocery stores who were not in the tsumani zones. Folks packed in, store shelves completely emptied, screaming desparate folks ...not fun. 

I doubt a annoucement would be made intentionally, over there the earthquake was the announcement..so unless it's something like that obvious they'ed probably just make annoucements that they are closing the stores n try to get folks out asap. Once people picked up on what was going on, if there still in the stores.. then...chaos but it seems they would try to avoid chaos and damage. 

Just all the more reason for all of us to focas on preps...europe is failing and we wont be far behind in a economic pile of poo...


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