© 2026 WGCU News
PBS and NPR for Southwest Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Guess What's Flying Off Shelves Now: Hair Dye

A worker restocks sodas at a Hispanic specialty supermarket in Los Angeles on March 19. Nationally, sales of soft drinks were up 43% that week, compared with the same week in 2019.
Mario Tama
/
Getty Images
A worker restocks sodas at a Hispanic specialty supermarket in Los Angeles on March 19. Nationally, sales of soft drinks were up 43% that week, compared with the same week in 2019.

America is stocking up on food, thermometers — and hair dye.

The latest sales data from Nielsen shows how our lives have been affected by widespread social distancing and, in some areas, mandatory lockdowns, as the world tries to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Just as in recent weeks, sales of medical supplies, cleaning products, paper goods and shelf-stable food have been remarkably high. But last week, customers also flocked to beauty products — salons are closed, after all.

Yeast saw a big spike as we launched new baking projects. And in the meat department, hefty spiral hams have newfound popularity.

Here's some of Nielsen's data on what Americans were buying.

Don't see the graphic above? Click here.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Camila Flamiano Domonoske covers cars, energy and the future of mobility for NPR's Business Desk.
Trusted by over 30,000 local subscribers

Local News, Right Sized for Your Morning

Quick briefs when you are busy, deeper explainers when it matters, delivered early morning and curated by WGCU editors.

  • Environment
  • Local politics
  • Health
  • And more

Free and local. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

More from WGCU
  • White Ibises are common birds of Florida wetlands that increase in numbers with arrival of migrants from more northern areas. While they normally feed in shallow water, they have also become birds of grassy areas such as our yards, parks, and highway and canal rights-of-way. Adults have white plumage with only the tips of outer primaries black -- a characteristic that reduces wear of those feathers. Sex of adults is often easy to distinguish when the birds are in a group. Males are larger with a longer, straighter (but still curved) bill.Females are smaller with a shorter, often more-curved bill. Young White Ibises always have white on their underparts, but recent fledglings can be almost all gray-brown. Over their first year the more-gray plumage is replaced by brown and then gradually changes to the white of an adult. Through much of the year the legs, bill, and face of a White Ibis is flesh-colored or pink, but as nesting approaches the bill, face, and legs become vibrant red. Both sexes have beautiful light blue eyes.
  • Four outdoor art festivals dot the Southwest Florida landscape this weekend: ArtFest Fort Myers, Bonita Springs National Art Festival, the Pine Island Art Association Annual Art Show and the 38th Annual Downtown Sarasota Festival of the Arts.
  • National Wear Red Day 2026 was celebrated on Friday via the Go Red for Women Campaign shining a light on heart disease, the leading killer of women. The Southwest Florida Go Red for Women effort took center stage at the Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburon Thursday.