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Mt. Pleasant stores face brief shortages after winter storm disrupts supply chain
Severe weather across the Midwest caused temporary delays in produce, frozen foods, and meat shipments to local stores, leaving shelves sparse and customers curious
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MT. PLEASANT — While Southeast Iowa was spared the worst of a powerful snowstorm that hit Jan. 4-5, Henry County residents still experienced unexpected side effects from severe weather in nearby states, including southern Illinois, Missouri, southwest Indiana, and northwest Kentucky.
Henry County resident Kelly Hultquist said she noticed fresh produce and eggs were not nearly as full as normal when she was shopping at Mt. Pleasant Walmart on Sunday.
“My first reaction was like ‘holy cow, people are hitting the produce hard,’” she said.
The following day, Hultquist attempted to put together an online pickup order and found some of the frozen vegetables she wanted were out of stock.
“I’ve never seen frozen lima beans out of stock,” she said lightheartedly. “I was also having a hard time finding ground beef that was available as well. I thought maybe their online system was having problems, and it wasn’t until I was on social media that I saw it was due to winter storm delays.”
According to the National Weather Service, the storm produced heavy snow and sleet accumulation along and north of Interstate 64 in southern Illinois and southwest Indiana. Additionally, parts of southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, and northwest Kentucky saw a major ice storm.
“Peak snow and sleet accumulations ranged from four to eight inches. In the hardest hit areas of the ice storm, widespread ice totals of 0.25 to 0.75 inch were reported,” the National Weather Service’s overview of the storm stated. “The heavy snow and ice, combined with persistent gusty winds, led to widespread power outages over much of southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, southwest Indiana, and northwest Kentucky.”
Because of this, stores in Mt. Pleasant like Walmart, Hy-Vee, and Aldi experienced delays in shipments leaving shelves looking sparse and customers wondering what happened.
Austin Riley, a supply stocker for Frito Lays, observed delays in shipments coming from Kansas and southern Indiana
“We just had some delays, but everything is fine,” Riley said. “It was just the other day and yesterday, but we got our trucks today.”
While associates at Mt. Pleasant Walmart did confirm similar delays, by Wednesday morning, most of the shelves were once again full in their store.
“Last evening I ran in to see if I was able to find my unavailable items, and the produce aisle was fully stocked and very busy,” Hultquist said. “I was also able to grab my items from the meat department as well.”
Meanwhile, a cashier at the Mt. Pleasant Aldi confirmed that their freight did not come in Tuesday and that left the store still short on supplies Wednesday, including two freezers completely void of product.
With the weather clearing and regular delivery schedules resuming, local stores are expected to restock fully in the coming days.
Comments: AnnaMarie.Kruse@southeastiowaunion.com
