Sold out: Eclipse-viewing glasses vanish from store shelves
But be careful: Some pairs aren’t adequate
Stores across the country are selling out of special eclipse-watching glasses viewers need to protect their eyes from the sun.
Retailers say many customers appear to have waited until the last minute to buy the glasses — with just five days remaining until an eclipse blankets the country in partial or total darkness. Anyone who plans to watch any part of the eclipse is urged to buy glasses.
The lightweight glasses — a piece of cardboard with two “lenses” made of barely transparent plastic film — block most light and allow users to look directly at the sun without burning their eyes.
“I was like, bingo! I’ve been trying to find them all over today,” said Edrea Volk, 54, who visited two grocery stores before tracking down 14 pairs at the University of Colorado’s student bookstore in Boulder. The store ordered 10,000 glasses this summer on the recommendation of the astrophysics department, and it expected the glasses to be sold out this week.
Experts have been warning for months that customers should ensure they buy eclipse-watching glasses from a reputable source and that the glasses meet safety standards. In Nashville, the Metro Public Health Department said Tuesday that 500 pairs of glasses given away at a health center weren’t suitable for viewing because they didn’t have the proper certification for direct observation.
In many cases, the glasses cost about $2. Retailers across the country report selling tens of thousands of them a day, with demand ramping up as Monday’s eclipse draws closer.
The Denver-Boulder area is about three hours south of where the totality will pass through Wyoming, and authorities expect hundreds of thousands of eclipse watchers to make the drive. Libraries, television stations and community organizations that have been distributing glasses across Colorado are reporting virtually none left. And few stores seemed to have any remaining. One Boulder hardware store, McGuckin’s, sold out of 30,000 pairs by Tuesday morning.
A partial eclipse will be visible
everywhere in the nation. A far shorter total eclipse will be visible for only two to three minutes along a 67-mile-wide path from Oregon to South Carolina.
It is not safe to look at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed sun through regular sunglasses, unfiltered telescopes or magnifiers or cameras, polarizing filters, CDs/ DVDs or space blankets. The only time it’s ever safe to look at the sun is during a total eclipse, when it is completely behind the moon.
In Jackson, Wyo., one of the most scenic towns in the totality path, non-profit Wyoming Stargazing has sold 17,000 pairs of glasses with about 1,500 left, said executive director Samuel Singer. “We’ve had a ton of calls,” he said, and he expects to sell out within days.
But in Salem, Ore., the first major city in the line of totality, eclipse glasses are still widely available. A manager at Roth’s Fresh Markets, a local grocery chain, said they have nearly 200 pairs remaining. At a Safeway in West Salem, stocks had run dry, but the manager was expecting a shipment of 400 from a nearby store the next morning.
At Fred Meyer in South Salem, around 7,000 pairs were still in stock. A store manager said they were going fast.
In Tennessee, most stores were in short supply. Some, like Kroger and the Tennessee State Museum, have sold out and are not being resupplied, managers said.
“They are going quick. We sold 2,500 between Saturday and Sunday,” said Bill Hudgens of Bellevue Ace Hardware.
After people learned some glasses were not safe, they nearly cleaned out his store and the Belle Meade Ace store, Hudgens said.
Frank Friedman, owner of Nashville-based Friedman’s Surplus and Outdoor, said he had sold at least 5,000 pairs.