From Flu Wiki 2

Forum: Prep Displays in Stores

17 November 2006

Cinda – at 13:19

Thinking as experienced preppers, please consider what the average grocery store carries. If you were just starting to prep and shopping for basic prep items in the grocery store, and they had a display dedicated to family preparedness for any emergancy including pan flu, what items would you want to see there?

OnandAnonat 13:50

Start with the basics-

food- Wheat, beans, rice; Salt, oil, sugar; a spice pack with a booklet on recommended uses; non-fat dried milk;

water- pint bottles of plain chlorine bleach;

Over the counter meds- Aspirin; Acetomenophin; Ibuprofen; others-

Rehydration drinks;

deborah – at 16:22

Just a little observation here…I saw a preparedness display in Walgreens last night. The items were specifically labeled preparedness, and so was the end cap display shelf. There were packaged bundles of items, and individual boxes of flu remedies, cold remedies, gloves, and sanitizing supplies. One of the items was 9.99, inside was 7 n95 masks, 10 latex gloves, and individually wrapped packets of alcohol swabs. They had a larger container that had other items in it, I didn’t check on the quantities.

I was surprised at the time, but now that the PSA’s have been cropping up it makes a lot of sense. Plus I recall reading that several drugstore chains were ramping up their stock of flu preparedness items.

I know this wasn’t what you were asking when starting this thread, so I hope it isn’t taken as a hijack. t just creeped me out more than a little to see such an obvious warning of what is eventually coming. I went home thinking this might be the last normal Thanksgiving with my family, and maybe if we are lucky, Christmas too. DH still insists IF a pandemic hits it will not be this flu season. I hope he is right.

25 November 2006

crfullmoon – at 10:19

Adding to at 13:50 (in no particular order)

Infant formula (and, add flyers from LaLecheLeague about breastfeeding)

Water filters (how-to booklets if you can find any, but some will do better to buy filters, especially households who already have their hands full of people they give care to.)

Children’s and prenatal vitamins, adult multi-vitamins

Contraception, for males and females, and, emergency contraception pills if available in your area.

Topical stuff to treat various yeast or fungal infections

Wound disinfectants, (add basic first aid booklets) and things that will help people close cuts that would normally need a few stitches. Burn ointments.

(Poison ivy care, and mosquito repellant, and sunblock, if your areas has those hazards -what do the fire ant/snakebite country people need?)

Bandages (I’ve seen home wound care kits for post-hospital recovery -probably pricy though)

Non-mercury, non-battery thermometers.

(The Red Cross has that Home Care for Pandemic Flu flyer that has an ORS recipe in it) Salt, Sugar, and potassium source, perhaps bundled as inexpensive ORS kit,

Measuring spoons, medicine droppers, those small inexpensive plastic dispensing cups with the various measurements on them,

The disposable pads for puppies, babies, changing tables, ect.

(Where did that thread go about preventing dehydration when fluids can’t be taken orally? Try explaining that in the grocery endcap -nah - maybe in the pharmacies)

Women’s sanitary supplies. Adult and infant diapers. Cloth diapers.

Laundry supplies, including that can be used to handwash in cold water. Drying racks. Buckets.

Foods that require little or no cooking; canned/tinned meat and seafood, dry breakfast cereals, tabouli mix, oatmeal, raisins, other dried fruit; dates, prunes, figs, apples, bananas.

LED flashlights. Also, the very small LED keychains, or LED headlamps, and replacement batteries for all of them.

Battery-operated Carbon Monoxide detectors and smoke dectectors, and the best batteries for them. (Add fire and cooking safety flyers if available from fire dept)

Nicotine patches.

Those larger, heavy-duty ziplock plastic bags, that can be used for food, or, bug-out bag clothing, protecting important papers at home from unforseen water damage; so many other uses.

Garbage bags.

Manual can openers.

Rat traps, mice traps, roach traps, caulk for sealing cracks.

Those cans of soup I see on sale lately. Also packets of miso soup or something you need to add hot water to. Boullion cubes.

Canned vegetables like yams, carrots, spinach, pumpkin (whatever gives good nutrition for the bite)

Things labelled as car kits, with food bars, first aid, and or car breakdown items, and also empty kit containers with the suggestion people buy supplies to customize a kit for their car.

(The local hardware store could sure market most of their inventory as preparedness-useful)Pharmacy should have a display by now, too…

Green Mom – at 19:28

CRfullmoom- no way all thats gonna fit on an END CAP!!!! You would need an entire aisle! Maybe even entire stores devoted to prepping!-theres an idea! One stop prepping-instead of running to the hardware/grocery/drugstore-just put it all together. At a deep discount price of course.

NotSureWhatsNextat 21:33

In a recent trip to Costco I saw samples given out of a rice dich that turned out to be contained in a 5 gallon bucket marked Emergency Food Supply.

I was surprised to see this in as mainstream a store as Costco. By the way the sample was pretty good.

The bucket went for 109.95 and purported to contain 275 servings.

There were a variety of dishes besides the rice dish in the bucket.

Need Spam Cleanup – at 21:45

Couple things I added on the new site, plus another couple:

1. Extra toothbrushes, dental floss, tooth paste/powder.

2. Lots and lots of wash cloths/dish cloths. You can use wash cloths for towels, compresses, all kinds of clean up, and they are relatively easy to wash out by hand and dry on a rack. Can’t have too many.

3. White buckets for every use under the sun - hauling water, composting toilets (different ones!), bucket/sponge baths, etc.

4. Get new glasses if needed (or extra in case one gets lost or broken), take care of dentist visits and any elective surgery (such as mole removal), any checkups or needed tests. Don’t want to be doing any of that (if it’s even possible) during a pandemic.

5. Extra tweezers, nail clippers, nail brushes and a magnifier for facilitating splinter removal.

Be Well – at 21:45

Aaack! That was me, not Spam cleanup (did that for another thread earlier..)

crsrs31 – at 23:15

Some things that came to my mind were “sickroom” supplies….disposible bedpads for easy changing and clean up…adult diapers. I got to thinking, what if I got sick and couldn’t physically get out of bed, how would my husband be able to care for me (he has no experience in adult care) I had been a HCW for many years, and it is not easy without the right supplies….disposible pads for the bed, hospital gowns, draw sheets, etc. I found a place that carries those things on the net, because I haven’t seen any of those things in our drug stores. Powdered eggs are another thing I’d like to see in the grocery store…they keep for many years, and taste great. I found a supplier on-line for that too.

26 November 2006

crfullmoon – at 08:16

Green Mom, I got carried away.

How about, just putting sticky notes identifying useful prep items, leaving them where they currently are in the stores?

What color/logo will either make it seem urgent to put it in the cart, or, make them feel good to put it in the cart (or both)?

Cinda – at 09:13

You guys are great! So many things I hadn’t thought of. Maybe I would have after a bit of thinking, but as an example- I don’t have small children or grandchildren so I was not thinking along those lines at all. As many of you know- I work for a large New England supermarket chain. My direct boss is on the Pan-Flu commitee for our company and is aware of my “interest”. My purpose for asking this question- as you probably surmised- is to have a list of items ready when I pitch the prepping endcap idea to my boss, who is the senior manager of retail operations, after the holidays. I won’t receive any extra monetary compensation if he buys it and takes it upstairs and they buy it. I’ll be lucky to get a “ good job” out of it if it flys - and we all know one “oh Shit” cancels out all the “good Jobs’ you have saved up.

Actually, I struggled with this idea for a long time before approaching the wikie with it. I was having trouble with my conscience for coming up with an idea that would “make money” for my company -off of a possible catastrophe. It’s still not quite sitting right, but I think maybe if it got peoples attention and they got the flyers and booklets (I still need ideas on which ones - Green Mom is right- not a ton of room on an end cap- even including the wings) and began prepping because of my idea and it saved even one family- I can live with it. Then Green mom mentioned a one stop prepping store. She read my mind. I’ve been tossing that around too. For one thing- New England has the highest shipping rates and there is NO WHERE to get most of the long term food prep items or at least not that I have found- in hundreds of miles. Many people wouldn’t know where to start. Many who find the sites and want to order- might be deterred by the cost of shipping. If it was handy within a reasonable distance, maybe they would be more likely to come load up their trunk for the cost of a tank of gas? I certainly wouldn’t be in this to make a ton of money, but I would have to have something to show for my time out of the house at night and I would have to pay someone to be there when I can’t be during the day. Again- I run up against that whole ‘profit from catastrophe’ conscience issue. Does anyone care to comment in on those thoughts?

Poppy – at 09:17

crfullmoon – at 10:19 (Poison ivy care, and mosquito repellant, and sunblock, if your areas has those hazards -what do the fire ant/snakebite country people need?)

Fire Ants - Lots of fire ant bait (poison).

Snakes - A loaded shotgun.

Green Mom – at 09:41

Cinda- I understand your “profit from catastrophe” concern, but think of this-how much would you really be “profiting?” Sure, you would be compensated for your time, skills and knowledge, like HCW, FEMA employees, first responders. If paramedics and firefighters pick up overtime pay because they’ve responded to a major four alarm fire-is that “profitting” from contastrophe? No way. I look at profiting in terms of price guagers (sp?)

OK, heres a thing-I remember hearing a news story about a store manager-I think it was a K-mart, but not sure that stayed open during some emergency-I think it was forrest fire where the town had been evacuated, to provide food/snacks/hygeine items to the firejumpers and others. Yeah, he might have made some small profit by remaining open when everyone else had fled, but his main reason was to provide a service, and he was regarded as a hero, not a profiteer.

Contrast that with the hardware stores/gas stations etc who triple their prices after a storm. I know that when supply is limited, for ex. in case of a storm, some prices do go up, but these are Blantant attempts to profit-we’ve all seen it. Thats what I consider “profitting” from a catastrophe.

Pixie – at 09:50

Cinda – at 09:13 I was having trouble with my conscience for coming up with an idea that would “make money” for my company -off of a possible catastrophe.

Cinda, I think that you and your company would be doing a great public service if you brought the idea of preparing for a pandemic to the attention of your stores shoppers. There would be all kinds of good from that: potential lives saved, customer gratefullness and future loyalty, pantries full of necessary goods, your store’s actions possibly leading to further conversation about the topic of pandemic in the community…lots of goods.

You have to remember that we must buy all our provisions from somewhere, whether that means OTC cold and flu medications, flour, powdered milk, canned soups, whatever. If I buy more rice and beans now from my local Stop & Shop, it will just mean that I will buy less during a pandemic when I am using up my stockpile, so their sales will realistically balance out overall. While they might see a short term blip in profits, then, they won’t be sustainable in a pandemic anyway.

I think that providing necessary goods is a vital service. People only have ethical problems with that when those selling the goods engage in profiteering. During Katrina, if gas had normally been selling for $2.50 per gallon and people saw their local station increase the price to $5.00 per gallon, many had ethical problems with that. Similarly, I would not be happy to see any supermarket raise the price of beans from $1 or less to $3 or $4 per pound in a period of pre-pandemic stockpiling. There is a real possibility, however, of increases in the prices of ordinary goods during a pandemic (what will a truck driver charge to deliver goods to some areas?). So, your store is really helping its customers by making it possible for them to prepare now, at normal prices. I don’t see any ethical dilema at all.

Green Mom – at 10:07

Heres another thought: Around here, at the beginning of the school year, the local stores-like Wal-mart has a little rack where they have leaflets from the different schools giving a list of what supplies the students will be responsable for. So you get the photocopy from Happy Sunshine Elementary and see what supplies Ms. Wanna Teach will require-pencils, paper, a complete set of Encyclopedia Brittainia, and you go through the store picking up your supplies.

So, wouldn’t it be fab if stores did this with emegency prep items? Have preprinted shopping lists available at the frount of the store? Then, use Crfullmoon’s idea and tag the items throughout the store?

Lets take this further and set up a tier system where where “have to have” items are tagged with say red. I would put OTCs here, bandages, batteries, LED lights, canned or instant foods- things you think you need during an emergency. Like 72 hour prep buckets.

Then tag “really should have” things with white-this would be the 2–12 week stay items, beans, rice, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, crank radios (or should that go above?) water filters etc etc etc.

Then tag with blue the “this would make life much easier” stuff with blue-coloring/puzzle books for kids, chocolate, mosquitto repellant, sunblock, powdered eggs, more complicated/expensive items like lanterns, battery rechargers, solar lights.

I don’t know-just brainsstorming here.

Cinda – at 10:25

I feel better now. Put in context against what we all saw on the news and some of us first hand after Katrina- you are right. As long as the prices were not inflated-it would be OK. I think this worry stems from my experience after the blizzard of 78 and remembering more recently when Rita was approaching and gas went to 3.65 per gallon over night. I recall being disgusted with the gas stations that took advantage of that threat to make a few extra bucks. I will have to really give some serious thought to my proposal now. Thanks.

Orlandopreppie – at 11:47

Cinda I’m glad you feel better. You’ve actually inspired me too. As I understand it a large SE chain, Publix, has been leading a national group of grocers in planning for the pandemic. They’ve covered supply, security, curb delivery, etc. I think your idea is phenomenal. There are, sadly, plenty of empty storefronts in this country. In a city the size of Orlando couldn’t Publix/Albertson/Winn Dixie, etc. rent one on each end of town and sell bulk prep items, or other prep items they don’t normally carry such as wind up radios, rechargable batteries, toilet bags, etc. Now that I think about it, the closest store to me, Winn Dixie closed up that store almost two years ago and its been standing empty ever since.

I don’t have any connections in that area, but I can write a great letter. Thank you so much for bringing this idea out into the forum. It’s a great one. Good luck!

Orlandopreppie – at 11:49

Oh, and one more thing. I’ve seen these storefront rented out for two or three month gigs before. Perhaps a shorterm furniture rip-off or something, so the short term lease (if they wanted one) shouldn’t be hard to pull off.

crfullmoon – at 13:29

The state/local officials should have contacted the supply chains, stores, and the citizens, and told them to prep, ages ago. “Luck” doesn’t last forever.

Don’t feel guilty for being pro-active, if you and your store get people to buy now what they will need to use use later. You would be helping make “community shielding” possible. Don’t forget to tell all the employees what is going on, too; they need to stock up and get their finances in order at home. No easy answers.

Only people who try and sell useless stuff (or, promise vaxes for everyone in time) are part of the problem. (Or keep pandemic influenza year with high fatalities from being comprehended by the public until it is happening; sure sounds like a recipe for panic to me.)

I’m-workin’-on-it07 December 2006, 07:47

Our local grocery chain in Ala, Bruno’s installed self checkout lanes last week & 2 days ago I asked if it was part of their Pandemic plan & the cashier overseeing the lanes said yes…..I was too afraid of a “wrong” answer to delve further to see if she knew what pandemic flu prep is all about.

Average Concerned Mom07 December 2006, 08:12

Cinda — have you seen the “Bare Basics” box we’ve been putting together over on the new Wiki forum? Basic Food supplies for a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 small kids) for about $11 (OK it is inchingup to to $120 unfortunately) for 2 weeks? Everything is supposed to be available at a regular grocery store; I have worked out calorie, protein and fiber requirements; all designed to be very compact; and including recpies.

If you email me at averageconcernedmom at hotmail dot com, I will send you a copy right now or later when it is even more updated — it can be taken, adapted for individuals, for region, for health, taste preferences — you can totally adopt it as your own and say you did it, I don’t care, just want to share it with others if it helps anyone to prep!

Average Concerned Mom07 December 2006, 08:13

uh — that would be $100 to $110 dollars.

(not $11)

Of course!

Average Concerned Mom07 December 2006, 08:18

Here’s the link to the thread (diary) in the new forum; I think you can open it without officially signing up. Just scroll down a few times and you will see the actual food plan. I haven’t added the basic recipes yet. But to my mind, for people who do not really cook from scratch, any buying guide should also include at least a few “bare bones” recipes — such as how to make tortillas and cook dried beans) because many people nowadays have lost that skill.

http://tinyurl.com/yzmolz

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