SAN ANTONIO — As strikes continue at ports from the east coast to the gulf, shoppers are quote “panic buying.”
On Wednesday KENS 5 observed dozens of people at Costco, Walmart and Sam's Club stocking up on water, toilet paper and paper towels.
Experts warn this kind of shopping is not productive or needed, siting that many of the goods that will be affected by these port disruptions will be perishable items among others.
"I urge the customers not to panic...hoarding doesn’t help anyone and it just complicates things," UTSA associate professor of Management Science and Statistics Muge Yayla Kullu said.
When KENS 5 went into Sam's Club and Walmart around noon Wednesday there was plenty of water and toilet paper and plenty of people buying it too. People shopping at Costco told us they saw things already disappearing.
"They’re definitely out of toilet paper…it’s crazy in there…it’s like a Saturday," one Costco shopper said.
"It's definitely crazy in there, I heard two other people passing by talking about it…everybody’s talking about the strike," another shopper said.
“They only have the Costco branded paper towels and the only water they have is the distilled drinking water," a Costco shopper added.
But these items are not what Yayla Kullu or her colleague Mark Leung, UTSA Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, Professor and Management Science and Statistics said people should worry about as they are most likely transported locally.
"Depending on the timeline…if it is too long….then we can start feeling the pinch on the fresh fruits and vegetables side," Yayla Kullu said.
There are still other options and the fruit can be diverted to other ports, according to Yayla Kullu, but it's things like bananas and other fruits that are more susceptible to these disruptions.
Going into the holidays they said companies prepared for this but right now it’s a waiting game to see how long the strike holds out.
"So it depends on that specific supply chain…that specific item…do they have a lot of inventory in the cushion," Leung said