What are you struggling to find? Shortage of heaters and vacuums in DBN.
We take a look at the items that have been hard to find recently...
We recently had to go through almost a week of not being able to readily get the bare necessities, such as bread and milk. So it comes as no surprise to us that Johannesburg and Durban have run out of items.
Many South Africans have been finding it hard to locate certain appliances or items recently. The recent temperatures for both Johannesburg and Durban have been quite low, -7°C, which is said to be the lowest since the previous lowest recorded 26 years ago.
Due to the cold conditions, there was a surge in demand for heating equipment like electric blankets and heaters. According to Business Insider, "At least one major retailer sold out of electric blankets in record time. Another reported that demand had increased by more than 250%, with only 1,500 electric blankets still available in Gauteng."
From opening price point blankets to electric blankets and hot water bottles, the past three weeks in particular showed a significant surge in demand.
"While the recent cold weather may have contributed to a surge in demand for electric blankets and other winter products, this is a fairly complex category, with several other factors influencing supply and demand," Saul Saltzman, Dis-Chem's executive director, told Business Insider SA.
So it's a holistic issue when it comes to the shortages. Imagine, something that seems so simple, the drop in temperatures, causing a snowball effect when it comes to the end user...
But we were thinking, what about those other items that have been hard to get recently? Could this be due to the recent unrest? Or perhaps, people have been panic buying and that is why retailers have been in a bit of a bind with their stock?
If anything, the recent unrest has made many of us realise that we aren't prepared for the mythical 'apocalypses'. Due to the state of our country and the world, economically and financially, we are unable to stock up on food items as we used to. Some families live day by day or week by week.
With this in mind, we wanted to ask you, what have you been finding hard to get from your local stores?
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