Dec. 24--Mix together a monster snowstorm and mildly panicked shoppers, and you've got a recipe for fast-emptying grocery shelves around Clark county, according to local grocers.

On Tuesday, some food merchants were blaming the dual forces of icy roads and customer stockpiling for a few bare displays, although most shortages were short lived, said Melinda Merrill, a spokeswoman for Portland-based Fred Meyer stores.

On Monday night, Fred Meyer Battle Ground, was out of eggs, and the vegetables were picked over.

"If a shelf is empty, it will get restocked pretty soon. It just takes longer to get to the store," she said.

On Sunday and Monday, delayed shipments were up to 24 hours late for the West Coast-based customers of Ridgefield warehouse distributor United Natural Foods Inc.

The facility was closed all day Sunday and a half day on Monday because some of its employees and truck drivers couldn't make it to work, said Sam Braden, general manager of the warehouse, which redistributes trucked-in foods to local natural food stores.

The temporary shutdown allowed workers to clear the facility's snow-covered loading docks and chain up its 16-truck fleet, Brandon said.

"It became a safety issue for our drivers," Braden said.

In the meantime, the effects of delayed food shipments have been compounded by higher-than-normal customer counts, said Scott Kooistra, owner of the St. Johns IGA grocery store at 2109 St. Johns Blvd. in Vancouver.

Kooistra said weather-worried shoppers have been storming his neighborhood store all week.

"They (customers) didn't want to get caught without the essentials, especially the seniors," said Kooistra, who counted about 500 more customers above last year's average store count of 1,000 customers on Friday.

The small grocery store temporarily ran out of 2 percent milk on Monday, said Kooistra, adding that the week's snow has been good for his business.

"Our sales were up by 25 percent," Kooistra said.

Timely delivery

An early distribution plan helped Battle Ground-based Ideal Food Products Inc. deliver holiday turkeys and hams before the Sunday snowstorm, said Lindsay Holmes, distribution manager at the company's Ridgefield-based warehouse.

"We've been a little slow, but we've been chaining up every day and it's business as usual," Holmes said.

She said the company's 12-truck fleet delivers meat and other frozen foods to grocery stores and restaurants along the Interstate 5 corridor from Tualatin, Ore., north to Seattle.

Despite some stalled deliveries, Vancouver-based Burgerville remained open on Tuesday, said Jeff Harvey, the company's chief executive officer.

"We have spoken with all four of our major distribution partners, Sysco, Fulton Provisions, Franz Bakery and Sunshine Dairy," Harvey said, adding that the suppliers were expected to make their scheduled deliveries.

Harvey said the promised deliveries would allow Burgerville to keep its 39-store chain open to serve hot food, despite the region's cold, snowy days.

"This kind of team effort and community service are what the holiday season is all about," he said.

-----

To see more of The Columbian, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.columbian.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

NASDAQ-NMS:UNFI, NYSE:SYY,

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.