Tampa Bay goes on Helene-inspired buying spree in search for ‘anything liquid’
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Shoppers at the Brandon Costco found an unwelcome surprise at 6:20 p. m. Tuesday: the wholesale store was minutes away from running out of water. The store announced as much with a makeshift sign, typed in all-caps along two pieces of printer paper: “Out of water. Delivery tomorrow.
” Customers muttered the sign’s words under their breath, grousing to spouses they had phoned in during their shopping spree. “There’s a delivery of water tomorrow,” one woman sighed, propping her head on her hand. Customers had one reprieve: 18-pack bottles of ionized alkaline water, running for $9. 99 a pop. A 40-pack of Costco’s Kirkland Signature water usually costs $3.
99. “I guess that’s fine. Just take it,” another woman instructed a family member. Stacks of the last-minute reserve, thrown on islands in the center of the beverage aisle, disappeared within 15 minutes. Big-box stores across Tampa Bay have been swarmed by shoppers cro...