3 ms·

That makes me wonder if the toilet paper industry is also seeing a short-term dip in sales because of all that hoarding earlier this year.

by ksaj 6y ago

antisthenes 6y ago
Different industries see regular ups and downs throughout the year anyway. Summer, for example, is generally considered a slow season, because many people are travelling and spending time outside, less time shopping.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
Larrikin 6y ago
Its annoying how there was pretty much no toilet paper to be found for months with a massive stock pile of paper towels everywhere and now its the opposite. I stock up on toilet paper and paper towels at regular intervals and was lucky to only barely begin running out once stores started getting toilet paper again but there seems to be no paper towels anywhere now.
- ci5er 6y ago
  I moved into a "new" apartment just over two years ago, and ordered TP on Amazon. 24 or 36 rolls or something. I fat-fingered the "Add to Cart" volume button, and got like 4x36 rolls. I'm a single guy - so I accidentally stocked up in advance! (I am not even half way through two+ years later - happy accident, in retrospect!)
- save_ferris 6y ago
  FWIW, major grocers like HEB spent months planning and simulating the effects of the pandemic before it hit the US and still didn't see the run on toilet paper coming.[0] 0: https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/heb-prepared-coronavirus-pandemic/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/heb-prepared-coronavirus-p...
  - pstrateman 6y ago
    Clearly they didn't read their history books. King of the hill predicted the TP apocalypse for y2k. https://kingofthehill.fandom.com/wiki/Hillennium https://kingofthehill.fandom.com/wiki/Hillennium
  - bsder 6y ago
    The "press" also causes active damage in these kinds of situations. "<X> shortage in stores" in the news will immediately cause a run on said <X> thus creating the shortage even if it didn't exist before.
    - save_ferris 6y ago
      So you're arguing that the press should self-censor in this situation? Their job is to report the news in factual and objective manner, not ensure that everyone has enough toilet paper. If the latter isn't true, how do you blame the press for "active damage" in this situation?
      - bsder 6y ago
        > Their job is to report the news in factual and objective manner, not ensure that everyone has enough toilet paper. The job of the press is to inform the public--not yell "Fire!" in a crowded theatre. Yes, they should have self-censored. Shouting "Covid causing shortage of bottled water--News 6 reports!" does nothing to inform the public nor does it create a useful call to action. It only creates a problem--often where none previously existed. There was ZERO reason to believe that Covid would cause a water system failure or contamination. This is different from "Hurricane incoming. Stock up on water. Here are the places which still have it." The information is useful, timely, and relevant. Having the free speech protection of being the press does not absolve the press of the responsibility to not be a jerk.
        save_ferris 6y ago
        > The job of the press is to inform the public--not yell "Fire!" in a crowded theatre. But yelling “fire” in a crowded theater is only wrong when there isn’t one, no? You go on to argue that it’s ok to have the press explicitly tell people do something (i.e. to stock up on water) when we live in a time when having the press directing anyone to do anything results in the exact kind of criticism you levied against them in your previous post. They reported that toilet paper is flying off the shelves. Arguably, an equally if not more effective solution would be to restrict to the number of units a customer could buy at once. But that doesn’t involve bashing the press.
netsharc 6y ago
Apparently industrial (enterprise? hahaha) toilet paper is different to home ones, and they couldn't just route for-office TP to retail. Although I heard this on a podcast which didn't cite any sources. The shittiest (ha) TPs are the ones where the buyer cheaps out, i.e the one you found in every AirBnB on the planet (when AirBnB was still a thing)...
- pkroll 6y ago
  The TP at my place of work was (probably still is but I've not been there in months) Angel Soft... which is sold in a giant box by Staples. And that's the only place I could get it from, early on when TP became a unicorn. It is, frankly, horrible, and now I have half a box of nasty TP and more recent, decent TP of various kinds. I do not recommend Angel Soft unless "falls apart like it was formed from loosely collected glitter" is a plus for you.

That makes me wonder if the toilet paper industry is also seeing a short-term dip in sales because of all that hoarding earlier this year.

by ksaj 6y ago

That makes me wonder if the toilet paper industry is also seeing a short-term dip in sales because of all that hoarding earlier this year.

antisthenes 6y ago

Different industries see regular ups and downs throughout the year anyway. Summer, for example, is generally considered a slow season, because many people are travelling and spending time outside, less time shopping.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

Larrikin 6y ago

Its annoying how there was pretty much no toilet paper to be found for months with a massive stock pile of paper towels everywhere and now its the opposite. I stock up on toilet paper and paper towels at regular intervals and was lucky to only barely begin running out once stores started getting toilet paper again but there seems to be no paper towels anywhere now.

ci5er 6y ago
I moved into a "new" apartment just over two years ago, and ordered TP on Amazon. 24 or 36 rolls or something. I fat-fingered the "Add to Cart" volume button, and got like 4x36 rolls. I'm a single guy - so I accidentally stocked up in advance! (I am not even half way through two+ years later - happy accident, in retrospect!)
save_ferris 6y ago
FWIW, major grocers like HEB spent months planning and simulating the effects of the pandemic before it hit the US and still didn't see the run on toilet paper coming.[0] 0: https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/heb-prepared-coronavirus-pandemic/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/heb-prepared-coronavirus-p...
- pstrateman 6y ago
  Clearly they didn't read their history books. King of the hill predicted the TP apocalypse for y2k. https://kingofthehill.fandom.com/wiki/Hillennium https://kingofthehill.fandom.com/wiki/Hillennium
- bsder 6y ago
  The "press" also causes active damage in these kinds of situations. "<X> shortage in stores" in the news will immediately cause a run on said <X> thus creating the shortage even if it didn't exist before.
  - save_ferris 6y ago
    So you're arguing that the press should self-censor in this situation? Their job is to report the news in factual and objective manner, not ensure that everyone has enough toilet paper. If the latter isn't true, how do you blame the press for "active damage" in this situation?
    - bsder 6y ago
      > Their job is to report the news in factual and objective manner, not ensure that everyone has enough toilet paper. The job of the press is to inform the public--not yell "Fire!" in a crowded theatre. Yes, they should have self-censored. Shouting "Covid causing shortage of bottled water--News 6 reports!" does nothing to inform the public nor does it create a useful call to action. It only creates a problem--often where none previously existed. There was ZERO reason to believe that Covid would cause a water system failure or contamination. This is different from "Hurricane incoming. Stock up on water. Here are the places which still have it." The information is useful, timely, and relevant. Having the free speech protection of being the press does not absolve the press of the responsibility to not be a jerk.
      - save_ferris 6y ago
        > The job of the press is to inform the public--not yell "Fire!" in a crowded theatre. But yelling “fire” in a crowded theater is only wrong when there isn’t one, no? You go on to argue that it’s ok to have the press explicitly tell people do something (i.e. to stock up on water) when we live in a time when having the press directing anyone to do anything results in the exact kind of criticism you levied against them in your previous post. They reported that toilet paper is flying off the shelves. Arguably, an equally if not more effective solution would be to restrict to the number of units a customer could buy at once. But that doesn’t involve bashing the press.

netsharc 6y ago

Apparently industrial (enterprise? hahaha) toilet paper is different to home ones, and they couldn't just route for-office TP to retail. Although I heard this on a podcast which didn't cite any sources. The shittiest (ha) TPs are the ones where the buyer cheaps out, i.e the one you found in every AirBnB on the planet (when AirBnB was still a thing)...

pkroll 6y ago
The TP at my place of work was (probably still is but I've not been there in months) Angel Soft... which is sold in a giant box by Staples. And that's the only place I could get it from, early on when TP became a unicorn. It is, frankly, horrible, and now I have half a box of nasty TP and more recent, decent TP of various kinds. I do not recommend Angel Soft unless "falls apart like it was formed from loosely collected glitter" is a plus for you.