RELATED: Walgreens Customers Are Outraged at the Pharmacy Chain for Doing This. On Dec. 8, Publix announced that it would be limiting the sale of six more items in all of its 1,289 stores across seven states, effective immediately, reports Jacksonville, Florida NBC affiliate WTLV. Similar to previous product restrictions set by the supermarket chain, the rules prohibit customers from buying more than two of each item on the list. The grocer appears to be limiting certain seasonal essentials as the holidays approach. The new products include coconut flakes; dairy whipping cream; half & half creamers; frozen pie shells; frozen hashbrowns; and canola, vegetable, and corn oil. The product limit announcement comes weeks after Publix said it would be restricting the sale of certain items in the run-up to Thanksgiving. At the time, certain holiday meal essentials, including canned cranberry sauce, jarred gravy, and canned pie filling were added to the list.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb In addition to seasonal items, the grocer is still limiting customers to two each of other everyday essentials, including canola and vegetable oil; cream cheese; bacon; rolled breakfast sausage; paper napkins; disposable plates, cups, and cutlery; bath tissue; refrigerated snacks such as Lunchables; sports drinks; aseptic-type juices such as Capri Sun; canned cat food, including variety packs; and refrigerated pet food. Customers are also limited to buying 10 individual cans or pouches of canned cat food. For more consumer alerts sent right to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. While the holiday season may put extra pressure on grocery stores to stock certain items, Publix says it may not necessarily drop the restrictions once the season has passed. “The limits are for all stores in our seven-state operating area,” a representative for Publix said in an earlier statement to WTLV. “There is not a set time determined for these limits, and the list can change to include more items or remove items.”
According to Maria Brous, director of communications for Publix, the company began enacting the limits in November due to the bottlenecking of now all too familiar supply chain issues with the high demand shopping requirements of the holiday season. But some experts speculate the company may have learned its lesson from the past year and a half. “I believe that there is still enough supply for demand for those products. However, we have seen panic buying within the public, and I believe that Publix is just trying to be cautious,” Seckin Ozkul, PhD, director of the Supply Chain Innovation Lab at the USF Muma College of Business, told local Tampa Bay NBC affiliate WFLA in November. “I believe it’s a good idea just to basically send a message of ‘just buy what you need and don’t necessarily buy somebody else’s.’” RELATED: Publix and Target are Pulling These 9 Popular Foods from Stores.
