LITTLE ROCK (KTHV) - The days after Christmas usually send shoppers into stores for holiday returns and bargains, but after this week's storm, they're piling into grocery and hardware stores just for the basics.
Generators and kerosene heaters are hard to come by right now. Firewood is too, if you're heating up the old fashioned way with no power at home. And at the grocery store, the rush seems to be for food you don't have to prepare.
At the Edwards Food Giant in Little Rock Thursday, shoppers had "storm survival" on their list.
"Everyone who lives around here is without power basically; if they live behind me they are without power," Store Manager Larry Bartlett said.
Bartlett said shoppers are clearing out battery racks and more.
"Out of firewood, D-cell batteries--the ones for flashlights--we're out of those right now," Bartlett said.
As for food, we found some gaps in the bread and milk areas. Shoppers are also stocking up on canned foods.
"I've probably sold more Vienna sausages today [Thursday] than I have in a long time," Bartlett said.
He said hamburger meat and Velveeta are other hot, post-storm items.
Over at Fuller & Son hardware store in Little Rock, THV 11 asked Store Manager Tommy Dame about the cleared out areas of the store.
"What used to be on the shelves there?" THV 11's Max Seigle asked.
"Those used to be full of gas containers and kerosene containers and diesel containers," Dame said.
"What used to be sitting on the floor here?" THV 11's Max Seigle asked.
"Natural gas heaters. There was nice stack of them here," Dame said.
"What used to be here?" THV 11's Max Seigle asked.
"The fire logs," Dame said.
Dame also said there were no generators or smaller propane bottles at this store Thursday. As for gas heaters, there were just six left When THV 11 was there.
"We've probably done roughly three times our volume today (Thursday) that we would normally do on the Thursday after Christmas," Dame said.
It's an unexpected jolt of business at Fuller & Son and back at the Food Giant, with some new holiday meals on the menu thanks to Mother Nature.
We also checked in at the Kroger in the Heights where shoppers are also scooping up the prepared foods.
At the Home Depot on Chenal in Little Rock, the store manager said they had no generators, kerosene heaters and firewood on Thursday, but a truck load of generators is expected to arrive overnight, and they will be ready for shoppers come 6 a.m. Friday on a first-come first-serve basis.
The manager at that Home Depot also told us that they're expecting another load of emergency supplies to come in some time Thursday night; those would include chain saws, gas cans and flash lights.