Viral Trader Joe's mini tote bags sold out at two Long Island stores Wednesday

They may not be able to hold a lot, but the latest iteration of Trader Joe’s viral mini tote bags, which caused a stir last year among customers desperate to get their hands on one, were sold out at at least two Long Island stores Wednesday.

The 13-by-11-inch canvas bags, which retail for $2.99 on the company’s website, took the internet by storm when they were released early last year, with viral videos showing hordes of shoppers swarming displays to get one of the coveted bags. TikTokers at the time gained tens of thousands of views for sharing and customizing their bags with detail paint, buttons and embroidery designs, according to The Associated Press. 

The company confirmed the in-demand bags would be available for a limited time this week on Long Island, but did not provide an exact date each location would have the totes in stock. 

"We have plans to release mini canvas totes in Trader Joe’s stores across the country this week," Nakia Rohde, a spokeswoman for Trader Joe's, said in a statement issued to Newsday Wednesday morning. "The exact date they will be available in each Trader Joe’s will vary."

Rohde said that "some of the stores in the area offered them yesterday" and that other stores on Long Island "may see them for the first time today."

The bags come in delicate pink, baby blue, mint green and lavender at local stores for a limited time, according to the company.

The special totes were nowhere to be seen inside Garden City's Trader Joe's location shortly after noon Wednesday.

An employee who was restocking packages of frozen food said the store had sold out of the bags shortly after the store opened at 8 a.m., and customers had been waiting in their cars as early as 6:45 a.m. The store was set to have more in stock Thursday morning, the employee said.

It was a similar situation at the grocer’s Plainview location early in the afternoon.

A sign posted on the customer service desk read "Mini Tote Bags are Sold Out For the Day," though an employee at the desk clarified that the store location, which ran out of the hot-ticket item shortly after opening, would be getting a restock at 6 p.m. Wednesday before closing at 9 p.m.

The bags have cultivated an aggressive resale market, with some reporting scalper-level prices in excess of $1,000.

Cursory glances at popular resale and auction site eBay early Wednesday revealed new listings of the pastel bags ranging from $50 for a set of four all the way up to $999 for a single pink tote.

The grocery chain, headquartered in Monrovia, California, has seven locations on Long Island, including sites in Commack, Hewlett and Lake Grove. An eighth location is planned for Miller Place but has yet to open, the company confirmed last year.