While officials urged people to stock up on essential supplies such as water and non-perishable foods in the wake of last week’s earthquakes, South Pasadenans hardly stampeded to local stores, according to an informal and anecdotal survey by the Review.
Two jolts of a 6.4 and 7.1 magnitude hit on July 4 morning and July 5 evening. They were centered in Ridgecrest, more than 100 miles away, but were felt in South Pas and throughout the Los Angeles area.
“I didn’t notice an increase in people buying supplies,’’ said one assistant manager at the Ralphs at 1745 Garfield Ave. “We still have plenty of water, plenty of canned goods, plenty of everything.”
It was the same story at the Whole Foods at 465 South Arroyo Parkway, where manager Justin Fields said that if there was an increase in customers, it was “maybe a little, but nothing big.’’
“It was just a lot of people talking about it, stuff like that,” Fields said, speaking specifically about the larger, Friday night temblor.
Carlos Andrade, store manager of the newly opened Ace Hardware on Fair Oaks Avenue, said “we got a handful of people’’ coming in to buy earthquake-related supplies, “but not what we expected.’’
That mini-spike, he said, came Friday night.
Andrade said that those who came in for quake supplies picked up water, flashlights, first-aid kits and furniture straps, of the kind to secure book cases and other heavy furniture from toppling over.
Still, he said, his store is looking into increasing in stock of earthquake-related supplies – such as disaster kits, emergency lighting and generators – from a company that specializes in such products.
Customers at the Vons at 1129 Fair Oaks Ave. seemed to buck the laissez-faire local trend, however.
“We did notice an increase in people buying water – very much,’’ said one worker.
She said workers had to restock the shelves earlier than normal, “to keep the shelves full,” and that there was a particular spike in customers stocking up on water on Friday night.
