Who are the suppliers? The management of the supermarket figured out that the appropriate thing to do was to ration the product. Are you implying they are not suppliers? There's a whole chain of people that work to bring products to people, hence the phrase "supply chain".

If some other store did not ration the product, then they would have empty shelves, so I'd go to the one that did.

>The management of the supermarket figured out that the appropriate thing to do was to ration the product.

Because they had a government gun to their head in the form of anti-gouging laws, or implications for the same. That's what I am arguing against.

If they were free to set prices, they might consider raising prices to keep stores in stock, rather than ration. They might not, if they calculate it will be a long-term PR hit. But right now, they are not free to choose.

Exactly. Every time there’s a widespread power outage in the US, portable generators sell out. Almost every time, portable generators are readily available between 500 and 1000 miles away. Anti-price gouging laws ensure that people in the disaster area are not quickly served with higher-priced but available generators.

Further, local and state politicians and AGs often are seen grandstanding about how they stand ready to prosecute anyone who is raising prices on necessities beyond the normal price (sometimes allowing +10%, but often not even being explicit about that, leaving businesses in a murky area).

Watch for it next time a power disruption hits your local area.