Coronavirus In Colorado: Stores Restocking Sought After Supplies As Crowds Line Up Outside

DENVER (CBS4)- CBS4's Rick Sallinger headed to the grocery stores to see what he could find as far as in high demand items like toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Those items are in short supply as everyone tries to stock up amid the coronavirus pandemic.

This is his experience:

Running out of toilet paper and running out of luck, the old phrase "the early bird gets the worm" came to mind. Since the stores stock the shelves overnight, a family member urged me to be first in line. I wasn't.

6:55 a.m. still dark, I arrived in a fog at my local King Soopers. The line outside extended across the front of the store and then around the corner.

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One lady I spoke to expressed concern, "Everything will be gone by the time we get in."

7 a.m. the King Soopers opened its doors and most customers headed directly to the "white gold."

Was I too late? No after days of searching there they were: packages of toilet paper stacked high.

"Never thought toilet paper could look so good," I said on the recording I made.

There was still no table salt on the shelves but there were paper towels to be had, one package only to a customer for each of those paper products.

But now the problem: I had to stand in a jammed line to pay for the items. No effort was being made here to keep customers at a safe "social distance."

A King Soopers spokesperson told me health and safety is its priority.

I asked a customer outside, "Is there an effort inside to keep people apart?"

"I wouldn't say so," the woman said.

"It's so crowded in there, they don't have any supplies," a man complained.

The shelves, for the most part, were stocked fine, it was just certain things.

Other stores are low on some products, too. I tried Safeway to try to find what's become a valuable item. And wow, I found it.

"Hand sanitizer! Never thought something so simple could be so hard to get," I said on my recording.

Many grocery stores are setting aside special shopping hours reserved for older adults and others considered at-risk.

For Target locations in Colorado and nationwide, the first hour of shopping each Wednesday, starting March 18, for the foreseeable future, will be reserved for older adults or those with underlying health conditions.

At Whole Foods locations in the U.S. and Canada starting Wednesday, March 18, customers who are age 60 and older will be served one hour before the stores open to the general public.

King Soopers stores will reserve 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for older Coloradans.

Many stores are also adjusting their hours to allow staff more time to clean, disinfect, and restock the shelves.

-- King Soopers will be closing at 8:00 p.m. daily
-- Target will close at 9:00 p.m. daily
-- Whole Foods Stores will close at 8:00 p.m. daily
-- Home Depot will close at 6:00 p.m. daily