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Third-year student Jamie Strowbridge rummages through his shelves. Strowbridge has not been able

Unusually vacant aisles and a closed bakery station at the Westwood Ralphs grocery store have confused and frustrated some shoppers as they stock up for the quarter.

Now that members of the Teamsters Union for Ralphs warehouses – locations that normally act as middlemen between produce manufacturers and grocery sites – are no longer on strike, many wonder why store supplies still remain low.

Warehouse employees and drivers originally refrained from working out of sympathy for the United Food and Commercial Workers union picketers who went on strike in mid-October to protest decreased health care benefits.

Secret talks aimed at ending the three-month strike between the union and the three grocery chains were held Sunday. No steps were made toward a resolution.

During the Teamsters strike – which ended on Dec. 22 – many merchandise deliveries were called off due to warehouse picket lines. In addition, products were not delivered to a substantial percentage of the 400 stores in California.

Scarce merchandise is a lasting effect of the three-month strike.

To compensate for cancelled deliveries, Ralphs created new ways of transferring products directly from manufacturing companies to store shelves, but aisle supplies still plummeted.

Deliveries resumed when the sympathy strike ended and the warehouse Teamsters returned to work.

But three weeks later, items are still missing throughout Ralphs as the spaces normally occupied by ketchup bottles, laundry detergent and canned goods remain empty.

Some students have felt the impacts of produce shortage on their normal grocery shopping habits.

“Ralphs was out of real hash browns today, so I purchased diced ones,” said third-year music student Jamie Strowbridge.

“Last week, a lot of spices were missing too,” he added.

Strikes continue at Albertsons and Vons so many of their regulars have opted to shop at Ralphs to respect picketers.

Increased inventory demands from additional customers put pressure on Ralphs’ limited ability to provide sufficient produce.

It is understandable that supplies are limited, said economics professor Earl Thompson.

“Warehouses only have so much capacity in terms of space, suppliers, trucks and drivers,” he said. “You will see bottlenecks.”

Warehouse supplies dwindled during the Teamster strike and though it is over, replenishing everything will likely take a while, said Ralphs spokesman Terry O’Neil.

Restocking depends on which products are available at warehouses. Perishable products, such as floral and meat items, are more difficult to replenish, O’Neil said.

Each store is missing different items, but O’Neil is confident all Ralphs locations will be entirely restocked very soon.

“Every day, you will see store shelves getting closer and closer to the normal level of selection,” he said.

But despite promises that full stocks are not far off, some shoppers still feel inconvenienced by item scarcity and by closed grocery sections.

“I have to make another errand because there is no Kleenex with aloe here,” said Westwood resident Anne Waldeck, who has continued to frequent Ralphs throughout the strike.

“And the bakery here has been closed for three months,” she added.

Ralphs management closed many seafood and bakery stations at various store locations when the strike commenced because only experienced handlers can manage them, O’Neil said.

Such stations will take longer to reopen because temporary workers do not have enough experience, O’Neil said.

Other shoppers say bare shelves have not greatly impacted their shopping habits.

“There definitely aren’t as many products as usual,” said fourth-year anthropology student Aissa Duey, “But, there hasn’t been anything I have needed that hasn’t been at Ralphs.”