Why milk, bread, firewood in short supply at Fort Worth grocery stores hit by snow, ice
After a rare snow storm and a week-long cold snap, many North Texans are reluctantly venturing out of their homes to restock their pantries with food and other supplies — only to find that many grocery stores remain closed.
And, stores that were able to open are having difficulty keeping milk, bread, firewood, baby food and other items on the shelves.
Many Dallas-Fort Worth residents took to social media to help each other find supplies.
On the Twitter account for @DFWScanner, one resident reported good results shopping at a Kroger in Flower Mound.
“Fully stocked with foods except for eggs,” the resident reported. “Gas Pumps closed.”
Walmart invited prospective shoppers to visit its online map before deciding whether to leave home for groceries or other home supplies. On Wednesday afternoon, the map showed at least 24 closed Walmart Supercenters and Neighborhood Market in the greater Fort Worth idea — roughly half of the company’s stores.
Some of the Walmart stores reported that, while they were closed to the public, they were still accepting orders for curbside grocery pickup, as well as home delivery.
Many retailers cited their workers’ inability to drive to work on icy Metroplex streets as reasons for the closures. Others said their trucks were having difficulty delivering items, so that emptied shelves can be restocked.
Central Market reported that its locations in Southlake, San Antonio and Austin’s Westgate area remained closed, while locations in Fort Worth and other parts of Austin, Dallas and Plano would operate on a reduced schedule — opening at noon, but closing again at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
At Kroger, many stores were operating on a reduced schedule, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., spokeswoman April Martin said. However, the company hopes that most stores will be able to open for regular hours beginning Thursday — with the exception of a handful of stores hit hardest by the region’s power outages.
“Dairy and bread continue to be in high demand in addition to firewood,” Martin said in an email.
She said that two Tarrant County stores were temporarily closed as of noon Wednesday: the Southlake store at 2110 E. Southlake Blvd. and one in Arlington at 2580 E. Arkansas Lane.
Kroger’s distribution network also has been hit by power outages, making it temporarily difficult to get inventory to stores, she said.
Martin added that several Kroger workers who couldn’t get to their usual store were able to work at another Kroger location closer to their homes.”
This story was originally published February 17, 2021 at 2:45 PM.
