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If you think back to the early days of the pandemic, one of the things that may stick out in your mind is the fact that the shelves were stripped of toilet paper. It seemed as if everybody panicked and it was quite some time before things got back to normal again.

Although we are a year and a half into the pandemic, it seems as if some people are starting to panic and stockpile items once again.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

In fact, they are doing so to the extent that Costco is now once again limiting the sale of certain products. Some of the items included are toilet paper, bottled water, and certain cleaning supplies.

Last month shoppers were concerned about more shortages coming. Some of their customers were on social media talking about the lack of toilet paper, which is enough to start a panic in most cases.

One person went on Twitter to say that Costco was out of toilet paper and paper towels.

It seems as if those who were concerned about the limitations were justified on September 23. That is when an official confirmation came from Cosco that said certain purchase limitations were being reinstated.

According to Alpha Street, Costco said: “We’re putting some limitations on key items like bath tissues, roll towels, Kirkland Signature water — high demand related SKUs related to the uptick in the Delta related demand.”

Photo: flickr/Thad Zajdowicz

It seems as if a number of different factors were affecting supply chains. This included the availability of raw materials and components, so more lead time is being requested by major brands. There is also a labor shortage, so getting the supply to the stores is a problem at times as well.

The CFO of Costco, Richard Galanti, spoke about how there was a shortage of merchandise a year ago. At this point, he said they have plenty of merchandise but there are up to three-week delays on getting it delivered.

Photo: flickr/michael_swan

Costco is imposing these restrictions to keep people from stockpiling and causing panic buying.

According to the Wall Street Journal, this is also being noticed by manufacturers and retailers, as the increased demand is affecting their ability to get items to the store. For example, Procter & Gamble company said that they had to increase production because demand was increasing.