If you’ve taken a trip to the grocery store since early March, you’ve noticed that some items have been hard to get. And what’s available versus what’s scarce seems to change by the week!

Besides the staples of toilet paper, hand soap, and hand sanitizer, Richmond Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing has information on seven items that Americans have changed their spending habits on.

 

  • Milk

 

Milk sales had a 50-percent increase at the end of March compared to the year prior. The average American consumes around five cups of milk per week, and that is now up to eight.

 

  • McDonald’s

 

Less people out at work and school means more people are eating at home. The nation’s largest restaurant chain reported a decrease in sales of 13.4 percent in March 2020 compared to the same month of 2019.

 

  • Walmart

 

America’s largest big-box store saw an increase of 20 percent from March 2020 compared to 2019 numbers. Since people are trying to limit their trips out, many chose Walmart because of the ability to buy groceries and other necessities in one place.

 

  • Video Games

 

People are looking for more entertainment inside the house, and thus, sales of video games are up a whopping 65 percent over the same period a year ago.

 

  • Gasoline

 

As the crash in oil prices suggest, demand for gasoline is way down. The end of March saw a 30-percent decrease in gas sales at the pump from the same time in 2019.

 

  • Puzzles

 

Nothing passes the time at home like a jigsaw puzzle, and puzzlemakers hit the jackpot in March, selling nearly four times the amount of puzzles as they did at the same time last year.

 

  • Fitness Equipment

 

With gyms closing nationwide, many have turned back to a fad that was popularized at the end of the 20th century – the home gym. The sales of fitness equipment like treadmills, stationary bikes, and weights was up a staggering 535 percent from March 2019 to March 2020. It makes you wonder that after making such an investment, will people go back to those gym memberships once they reopen?

 

To learn more about Richmond Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing and all of the services they offer, visit http://richmond-center.facilities.centershealthcare.org/.