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The restaurant-stocking warehouse until last week was for restaurant personnel with memberships who needed to stock their restaurants. Now, anyone can access the goods.
Restaurant owners, who are also struggling due coronavirus say the long lines and empty shelves at Restaurant Depot aren't helping.
The company previously said it was all in an effort to make sure people have their basic needs met during the COVID-19 crisis.
A request for comment placed Thursday morning to Restaurant Depot was not returned.
Joe McCafferty -- who runs Sushi Lounge in Totowa, Morristown and Hoboken -- says he waited in line for 90 minutes just to find that many of the items he needs to open daily weren't on the shelves anymore.
"I think it made sense several weeks ago and I fully understand the premise," McCafferty told Daily Voice. "Now, all stores are stocked perfectly fine. I would hope they do not continue as many distributors aren’t even open.
"We buy prudently and do not wipe the shelves."
Edwin Leon, who manages Ridgefield Park Liquor and Deli, says Restaurant Depot has always been fully-stocked -- even at the inception of the COVID-19 outbreak. Now, nearly everything he needs is wiped out, he said.
"It's making things more difficult for us," he told Daily Voice. "I have to make more trips because the things I need are out of stock, like fresh chicken.
"If people can go and get their own things, business are getting cut out."
Although Leon thinks Restaurant Depot should stay open to the public for the time being, he and McCafferty both said opening the warehouses should have designated shopping times for the general public.
Stores are in Jersey City, Neptune, South Hackensack, Pennsauken, Pine Brook, Secaucus, South Plainfield and Union.
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