Shelves empty as supermarkets rush to restock stores

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred has continued to wreak havoc for supermarkets, with many reopening their doors despite limited fresh produce, meat and bread.

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred has continued to wreak havoc for supermarkets, with many reopening their doors despite limited fresh produce, meat and bread.

While shoppers may not be able to get essential items, there are plenty of Easter eggs.

Staff at several supermarkets were frantically working to fill shelves throughout Sunday morning, with car parks completely full just after 10am.

The Courier-Mail visited multiple Woolworths and Coles stores across Brisbane and Moreton Bay to find empty shelves and an overflow of Easter stock.

A Newstead Woolworths had multiple rows of empty shelves including fresh produce, bread, chicken, milk and water.

At Woolworths Narangba there was almost no milk available and only a small selection of fruit while staff were seen wheeling stock out in almost every aisle.

Multiple shelves at Redcliffe Woolworths were empty including bread, chicken, milk and certain fruit and vegetables.

At one store only a few dozen apples remained on the shelves. Picture: Supplied

Many shoppers said they headed down to their local supermarkets after being left without power after Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred passed through Queensland’s southeast Saturday night.

“We’re in the Narangba area, we didn’t suffer much damage at our house, just being out on the roads we’ve noticed that some trees are down,” shopper Cassie said outside Seasons IGA in Burpengary.

“We’re without power which is why we are here. Hoping it comes on soon but I think the whole neighbourhood is in the same boat.

“I don’t know if it was us or the communication but we became a little bit complacent, we thought that it was a non-event and that nothing was really happening.”

Tyler was lucky enough not to lose power on Saturday night. He picked up bread, pizza and a few other essentials while down at his local Woolworths store this morning.

“It was pretty wet and wild out there. We had a few flickers but a pretty unique event,” he said.

Many stores had limited milk available. Picture: Supplied

In larger shopping complexes, conditions were similar to a normal rainy day except the majority of smaller stores were closed. Those that were open were largely ignored, with shoppers opting to head straight for the packed supermarkets.

A Woolworths spokeswoman said the majority of stores in impacted areas had been reopened where it was safe to do so.

“We have taken a store-by-store approach to reopening based on safe access to stores, continuing weather conditions, any impact to the stores and their operations, team member availability and the advice of local authorities,” she said.

“We ask customers to please check the latest operating hours for their local store on the Woolworths website, which will be regularly updated.

“With some stores now reopening, resuming deliveries, restocking stores and getting back to normal will understandably take some time.

“We thank customers for their patience and understanding as stock availability per store will be variable and not all their favourite products will be available immediately.”

Several Coles stores across the region remained closed on Sunday due to safety concerns in impacted areas.

A Coles spokesman thanked customers for their patience as stores work through the impact of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

Some supermarkets had no meat left on the shelves. Picture: Supplied

“We want to thank the community for the kindness they have shown our store teams, and ask their continued patience as our team work hard to reopen as many of our stores as it is safe to do so,” he said.

“Our distribution centres are back up and running, and our priority is getting essential goods into our stores. We have extra deliveries on their way to our stores, however, it will take some time to restock our shelves so just ask that our customers only take what they need to ensure there is enough for everyone in the community.

“Our customers can rest assured that we are working hard to get the remainder of our stores open, and get our shelves restocked with everything the community need.”