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Business Unusual at Wegmans

The following “Business Unusual” account is part of our new initiative, Collecting in Quarantine. With current mandates for all non-essential businesses to close, business is anything but usual in Maryland. In the Business Unusual series, MdHS is asking business employees, owners, customers, passers-by and neighborhood residents to visually share their experiences during the COVID-19 crisis.

Saturday, March 21, 2020 – On this day, “TAO” from Hunt Valley, Maryland, shared the photos here, along with this dispatch below:

March 16, 2020. Governor Hogan just announced the closing of restaurants and bars in a noon conference. I decided to head to Wegmans Grocery Store in anticipation of a lockdown to follow. This was 1pm in the afternoon and to my surprise the shelves were near bare. As I am shopping going through the aisles I see more people are entering the store. I felt the reality of what was happening around me. By the time I reached the checkout line I was 12 people deep and all the registers were open. Some of the hard hit aisles are shown in the attached pictures. Pasta, paper products and cleaning supplies, including laundry detergent, which is what I needed. There was 1 little pack of an off brand all alone on the shelf as if left behind. Soon after, the grocery stores limited items to 2 per purchase which was warranted.

empty store shelves
Photo courtesy of “TAO”
sparce pasta aisle
Photo courtesy of “TAO”
sparce detergent aisle
Photo courtesy of “TAO”

Please note: The views, information, and opinions expressed and shared on the underbelly through the Collecting in Quarantine project do not necessarily represent those of the Maryland Historical Society. Our staff does not verify for accuracy the information contained within these submissions. The primary purpose of this series, with the permission of contributors, is to share and collect the experiences of Marylanders living through quarantine at this moment in time.

To learn more about the Collecting in Quarantine project and how to share a story and/or photos of your own, click here.