From milk to snow shovels, food staples and cold weather gear vanished from local shelves as Warsaw residents prepared for Monday’s snowstorm. Mike McCarty, manager of Owen’s on East Center Street, said Tuesday that bread, milk, eggs and water were snatched up Friday and Saturday in advance of the storm. He said the store ran out of milk at one point, and the dangerous road conditions delayed their chance to resupply. “We’ve had trouble restocking it, but we should be back to normal pretty soon,” he said. John Arnett, manager of Marsh Supermarket on South Buffalo Street, said he didn’t see food staples fly off the shelves quite as much as cold-weather gear – they sold a lot of shovels and salt on Saturday. Another big seller was a fuel additive to prevent freezing, he added. “That really sold like crazy,” he said. Residents also flocked to Ace Hardware, East Center Street, looking for ways to keep warm. Store manager Mary Kerlin said they ran out of kerosene and kerosene heaters as well as propane tanks – in addition to running low on electrical tape and snow shovels. She said Sunday afternoon saw the biggest rush for supplies, and the storm kept the store closed Monday. Shoppers who had been snowed-in by the storm came in Tuesday looking for what was left, she said. Weather also delayed their resupply truck until this morning. “We’re a day behind... we’re counting heavily on (the truck),” Kerlin remarked. Big R on Commerce Drive sold out of anything cold weather-related, according to store manager Sharon McIntosh. She named hats, gloves, boots and heaters among items that began disappearing from shelves Friday. She said on Tuesday people were still coming in looking for gear and the store was trying to accommodate them. “We ran out of a lot of things before the storm even hit,” she said. “Anything storm-related, pretty much, we ran out of.”
