The universality of living creatures requiring ongoing nourishment to prolong life is undeniable. When the larder is empty, animals forage or hunt, people visit their nearest food supermarket to stock up on edibles. Simple as that. Most of us simply get in our cars, drive to the supermarket we're most comfortable with, and do a weekly shopping.

We've noticed, the last few weeks, that the shelves in the supermarket we most often tend to shop at, have been less than full of products. Weren't quite certain what to attribute that to, but thought perhaps it had something to do with diminished summer-time staff, people away on holidays, commodities deliveries intermittent, that kind of thing.

The supermarket we've been shopping at for the most part over the past decade and more is, in any event, not one of those large, well-appointed, and lavish-selection-over-stocked big box stores. It has a limited selection of products, and a limited price range. We are aware that, shopping there, we save at least 20% on our weekly food bill. As long as we're able to acquire a full range of fresh and attractive fruits and vegetables, everything else falls into place, since we rarely buy processed foods and have a limited meat menu. The fish available there is generally sufficient to our needs and preferences.

But then, suddenly, the fresh fruit juices we're accustomed to buying, the store-brand butter, the lactaid-reduced milk, and preferred cleaning products, among other items, have been missing. I had to ask an accommodating, gentle-mannered store employee to check for me whether there was any milk, butter or juice in the store's inventory, and each time he came back with an apology; the store was out of those products.

I can do without some things, but not the fundamentals. Asked him what could explain the absence of these foods, and he responded with a lame "well, sometimes we have problems with our suppliers", pretty standard stuff. I've heard that one often enough over the years when items like bananas and the tomatoes we favour were out of stock.

Which he was, of course, enjoined to respond with, quite obviously. I then spoke to the manager and the reason for the stocking lapses was revealed; the store is emptying its inventory. In anticipation of closing down and moving to a new, larger and upgraded location now in the building process, nearby. In the interim, customers can anticipate a truncated inventory without ever being informed - unless they insist on knowing - why.

We'll shop elsewhere until the opening at the new location - in October.