Groceries and guns: Shoppers rush to stock up after 'stay at home' order

The state's issuing of a stay-at-home order, effective at 11:59 p.m. Monday, prompted residents to hurry to the grocery stores and the gun stores even though neither of those businesses will be forced to close under the state's rules. Both are deemed as essential services, meaning they can remain open throughout the shutdown, which was signed by Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton and announced by Gov. Mike DeWine on Sunday afternoon. Shortly thereafter, the registers at Grafton Sparkle Market were lined with customers pushing carts filled with milk, bread, cheese, eggs, cans of beans and snacks. There was no toilet paper, though. "I hope to find it within the next day," said Linda Stevens of Grafton Township. "I haven't found any at any store I've been in." She was happy to find bleach and paper towels so she could disinfect her home, but she was worried about her job amid the closures. Stevens said she is a property manager for a Brunswick apartment complex where 96 families live, and she wouldn't be on site to help them through the crisis. "I worry about all of them, too," she said. "They're like family." Grafton resident Eric Dayarmin also was hunting for toilet paper at Sparkle. "We have four rolls left and we can probably make it," he said. "Still, it would be nice to have a little more." An independent contractor, he was worried about the construction market. He said jobs dried up overnight. Owner David Wildenhelm said Sparkle has been in his family since the mid-1940s. The past week was the busiest in its history, he said. "The business started up crazy" right after DeWine's closure announcement, he said. "... I don't know what to expect anymore." His biggest concern was keeping customers separated from each other by at least a few feet as they lined up. "I've been trying to grapple with some sort of setup to control that better," he said. At Village Market in Wellington, checkout lines stretched back into the aisles. Manager Laura Hoy said crowds flocked in immediately after the governor's press conference Sunday afternoon and didn't slow down — but the rush was typical of what she's seen over the past two weeks. Charles Keating of Wellington left the store with jugs of purified water and baby formula for his 5-month-old. He said he was headed across town to Apples to hunt for essentials he hadn't been able to find. "The next place is going to be just as crazy or worse," he predicted. At Apples Market in Elyria, manager David Barker was actually relieved. He said there had been a mad rush, but "no wild customers" and it seemed shoppers were getting used to life under coronavirus restrictions. "It's not as busy as it was the first time around, last week," he said. "It's more orderly now." Barker said suppliers are also learning and doing a better job of keeping up with high demand for food and household goods. Supply has been a problem for Rose Schild, owner of Schild's IGA in Eaton Township. She said delivery trucks "keep getting a little shorter and shorter every time," causing her shelves to periodically run empty of bread, milk and eggs. The Sunday rush wasn't the busiest Schild has seen — that was last Monday, after the state shut down dine-in restaurants, gyms, recreation centers, bowling alleys, movie theaters, canceled in-person voting and advised people 65 and older not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary. "It's been crazy," she said. "People are loading up. They're just hoarding baskets of canned goods. It's craziness." Her store has received pallets of toilet paper every day, and each time it is sold out within an hour or two. At the same time, she expressed thanks to faithful shoppers, especially those who volunteered to help sanitize the store. "All the customers have been very patient, very thankful for limits (on purchases)," she said. "No fist fights, no brawls at our store... That's the beauty of a small town. We are so grateful to everyone." Local firearms sellers also reported being unusually busy throughout the day Sunday and the past week as a whole. Tim Husk, owner of Bent Barrel Guns in Grafton, said interest in purchasing guns and ammunition is high. Some customers visited the shop to buy a certain caliber of ammunition only to find they are getting the last box, he said, or that what they were looking for was not available. He started getting calls from prospective gun-buyers shortly after 9 a.m. Monday of last week, he said, and they lasted past his shop's closing time. While there are still guns available at Bent Barrel, Husk said rifles and pistols are selling fast. "Right now, the pistols are down to about four in the cabinet, but I'm supposed to have another six come in (Monday)," he said. "But with the shutdown, they may not show." One of the biggest motives for gun-buyers is self-defense, Husk said. He added that getting armed is a common response to government mandates like a "stay at home" order. "I didn't really expect it, but it's not uncommon when government officials start mandating orders to hunker down and things like that," he said. Husk said he has seen young people who never owned guns before coming into the shop to purchase in the past few weeks. "After the virus started spreading, that's when they came in to the doors looking to buy," he said. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com. Contact Dylan Reynolds at (440) 329-7123 or dreynolds@chroniclet.com. **READ Ohio's stay-at-home order