Grocery stores, restaurants overprepared for eclipse
In the weeks and months leading up to Monday’s eclipse, emergency agencies prepared for the worst and urged others to do the same, so grocery stores and restaurants girded for really big crowds.
Fears of gridlocked roads, no gas, no food and little water had people stocking up much as they did for Y2K – and with much the same result.
To prepare for the conditions, and the thousands of people expected in Central Oregon for the eclipse, grocery stores and restaurant, including the Victorian Cafe’ in Bend, did the same.
“On Friday, I think I counted about 4,000 eggs in the restaurant,” the cafe’s general manager, Cory Weyrick, said Tuesday.
But as it turned out, those crowds didn’t come.
Joe Anzaldo, Newport Avenue Market’s general manager, said the grocery store was more than ready.
“So we just kind of guessed Fourth of July times six, and it turned out to be times three, so about 50 percent of what we thought would happen Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday happened,” he said.
“Then Friday, Saturday, Sunday went ‘kerplunk’.” Anzaldo said. “I mean, it was still busy, but it wasn’t that projected big thing.”
Bethlyn Rider, the owner of Global Fusion, went above and beyond, in terms of eclipse preparation.
“I bought an electric bike, because I thought it was going to be gridlocked, so I would carry all my proteins in my electric bike and haul them over here,” Rider said. “And we rented out a little space for our employees, just in case.”
And it’s not just brick-and-mortar stores that were left with excess food.
Nate Dahrens is a cook at the food cart called A La Carte. He said this was one of the business’s slowest weekends this summer.
“It’s a bummer, just because we were expecting it to be super-crazy, and it was kind of like the slowest week of the summer so far,” he said.
“When you stock up on everything, it kind of throws everything off, as far as your labor goes and your food costs,” Dahrens added.
Several businesses mentioned having to pay for additional labor as being one of the biggest financial hits from the weekend.
