Heartwarming moment a shopper offers up a packet of toilet paper to an elderly man with a walking stick who was left empty-handed during Woolworths panic-buying frenzy
- Footage showed Colin handing over the the toilet paper at a Woolworths
- He had just picked up the toilet paper when the elderly man approached him
- Panic buying sparked by coronavirus has seen supermarkets stripped bare
A Woolworths shopper has shown kindness to an elderly man with a walking stick after he grabbed the last packet of toilet paper off the shelves.
Footage showed the man named Colin handing over the toilet paper at a Woolworths in Balmain, in Sydney’s inner west, on Tuesday.
He had just picked up the toilet paper when the elderly man approached him.
Footage showed Colin (left) handing over the the toilet paper at a Woolworths in Balmain, in Sydney’s inner west, on Tuesday
‘Will I have to fight you for it,’ the man joked in the video obtained by 10 Daily.
Colin then handed over the toilet paper – after he checked shelves for two weeks for the product – because ‘someone wanted some, so I gave it to him’.
Panic buying in recent weeks sparked by the spread of coronavirus in Australia has seen supermarkets stripped of toilet paper, pasta, rice, frozen food as well as tinned and other dried goods.
Supermarkets have been forced to plead with customers to behave and treat staff kindly following scenes of violent and rude behaviour due to lack of product availability.
Scenes have showed customers brawling over the last products on the shelves.
On Monday Woolworths announced it will close supermarkets early this Wednesday so it can restock.
He had just picked up the toilet paper when the elderly man approached him
Panic buying in recent weeks sparked by the spread of coronavirus in Australia has seen supermarkets stripped
‘We want to slow the panic down,’ Woolworths managing director Claire Peters said.
‘We understand that our customers’ priority is to be prepared, but the vast majority of our food is grown or manufactured in Australia so there is not a concern with supply. What we have is a spike in demand.’
The supermarket also announced plans are underway to increase the supply of toilet paper, which is selling seven weeks’ worth per day.
Woolworths also announced it is suspending online deliveries in Victoria – where it had ‘extraordinary’ demand – to focus on keeping supermarkets stocked.
Supermarkets have been forced to plead with customers to behave and treat staff kindly following scenes of violent and rude behaviour due to lack of product availability
Woolworths introduced its own elderly hour which kicked off at 7am on Tuesday.
Huge queues of people were seen waiting to get in and some were disappointed with the lack of choice despite being allowed in early.
At Woolworths in Ryde Looi Wong, 70, said the experience was ‘horrible’ and branded the exercise a ‘PR stunt’.
‘I thought they would stock the shelves especially for this morning but they were empty,’ she said.
‘I wanted to get frozen vegetables, frozen fish and Spray’n’Wipe, but they were all out.
‘It seems like a PR stunt, so I’m now going to Coles to see what their stocks are like.’
Woolworths fresh food director Paul Harker said the initiative had proved very popular on Tuesday morning.
He insists there weren’t food shortages despite reports of widespread of empty shelves.