Stew Leonard’s a popular spot amid CT scramble for COVID tests
FILE PHOTO: As many Connecticut residents have been scouring for at-home COVID tests, Stew Leonard’s was one of the few destinations with ample supply in the past week.
Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media
A long line stretched across the front of Stew Leonard’s throughout the New Year’s holiday weekend as the Norwalk store was among the few in the area with an ample supply of at-home COVID tests.
But by the end of the weekend, Stew Leonard’s supply had been exhausted as well.
Similar scenes have played out across Connecticut with the demand for COVID testing outpacing supply as the state’s positivity rate reaches new record highs each day — soaring to nearly 24 percent on Tuesday.
Stew Leonard’s stores in Norwalk, Danbury and Newington became a destination for people searching for at-home COVID tests in the past week as the state has struggled to distribute enough free kits and other retailers have quickly run out of supplies.
“It’s hard to say if we are getting shipments more frequently than other retailers,” said Meghan Bell, a spokesperson for Stew Leonard’s. “Our buyers are working to get the best price possible from the supplier and we’ve been selling the tests at competitive, yet reasonable, prices.”
Demand was so high at Stew Leonard’s, store managers eventually capped the amount of test kits customers could purchase, Bell said.
“At certain points over the past week, some of our stores’ managers had to make the call to restrict the number of tests being sold to each customer,” she said. “This was usually because the line was long, and we were trying to get tests into the hands of as many shoppers as possible.”
Bell did not respond to questions about how many test kits Stew Leonard’s received and sold in the past week.
Bell said Stew Leonard’s expects another shipment of tests to arrive this week and they will limit customers to purchase up to four kits, which each contain two tests.