I made my weekly trip into town today. On the surface things seemed the same. The restaurants that were popular still had cars in their parking lots, as did the car-parts stores. However, there seemed to be shorter lines in the drive through lanes of the banks and credit unions. That may be because I was out earlier this time, and people don’t go out until closer to noon, or it may have meant fewer people had payroll checks to cash.
Shelves were still bare, but more things were available. I always buy toilet paper in individual rolls because I have no place to store a bulk package and keep its contents clean once it’s been opened. This restricted me to one brand, which had gotten shoddier over the years.
Today, the local grocery had individual rolls from several companies. They, or the distributors, have responded to the limits on purchases with packages that make it possible to honor those limits.
I had come to a crisis point with butter. The one I bought, because it was all that was left, turned out to have some chemical in it that was causing me to break out. The local grocery not only was resupplied with butter but had several brands, including an organic one I had used in the past.
My concerns with buying butter, rather than margarine, may make me sound elitist, but I’m probably just a variant in the mix that’s Española. The National Retail Federation released statistics on the impact of Coronavirus on sales. Clothing and automobile sales were down. They are something that can be postponed when one has lost income.
Most of the clothing comes from Asia, and the automobile manufacturers have stopped production. While demand was down, supply probably was also down so no inventories were accumulating.
Food store income was up, because people have to eat at home. I’m part of that 25.6% increase in sales, because I normally buy my groceries in a big box in Santa Fé, rather than in the local store.
The big boxes were classed as "general merchandise stores." Their increase was less, 6.4%. In some states, like Michigan, those outlets are required to close off their non-essential aisles, but here they are open. The probably saw the net effect of the shut downs: increases in grocery sales offset decreases in clothing and non-essential items. I haven’t been to one since I stopped going into Santa Fé.
The other type of store where I’ve been shopping also saw a slight increase: building materials and garden supply store sales were up 1.3%. It’s still going to be a very tough year for people like the local outlets and their suppliers. This is the only time in the year when nurseries have big sales, and many didn’t survive the economic problems of 2008. Those that did have faced tougher competition from the big boxes.
The one I visited today actually had the plants I wanted: pansies and snapdragons. They are cold weather annuals and this is the time they do well. However, I rarely can get what I want. The ones that become available in mid-May don’t do well.
I’m not sure why I was lucky. The person who runs that hardware store’s garden center is very active in finding things her customers want, and often from smaller suppliers. She may have been more successful this year.
The alternative is that things have trickled into our market because there’s less demand in large cities. The resulting surplus has been made available to people like my local store.
The one thing I noticed today was people were even less concerned about contracting the virus than last week. The number of confirmed cases is in Rio Arriba County increased from 7 to 10, but people still may not know anyone personally whose affected.
The grocery store remained the same. All the cashiers were wearing masks and gloves, and most of the customers were wearing masks. The ones who weren’t were men.
The post office was less wary. The people behind the counter weren’t wearing masks. Perhaps, they think they are adequately protected by the plexiglass shields. Unfortunately, it sends a message to customers that masks aren’t needed on the other side of the barrier. Only a few people were wearing them, and they tended to be older.
The message was reinforced by television coverage of protests in states like Michigan. I heard my first complaint about distancing from the man behind me in post office. The guy in front of me, backed out of the lobby and then wandered around, making it hard to stay away from him. When I moved back , the man behind said "I suppose we have to play these games."
My final stop was the hardware store, a different one that I had used earlier. Only one clerk was wearing a mask, and none of the customers.
When I got home my garage door wouldn’t close. The cables had frayed and broken loose. I managed to close the door enough using the manual override so the contents of the garage weren’t visible to someone driving by. But, there was still the chance of rain, and definitely small animals invading.
That kind of repair business falls into a gray area: it’s not essential in a severe crisis, but it’s critical. The company in Santa Fé was open and dispatched someone who knew the area. He understood my directions, like a local would, and arrived at my drive without problems.
I put on a mask to greet him, and he responded by doing the same. One of his first comments was that no one in Española was taking the need for protection very seriously. As I said, I haven’t been to Santa Fé to test the validity of his suggestion the city was doing better, but his comment on the locals rang true.
Sources:
"March Retail Sales Plummet During Coronavirus Pandemic." National Retail Federation press release. 15 April 2020.
Wikipedia. "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in New Mexico." Updated 17 April 2020.
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