A Sign in Front of Hannaford Brothers, Forest Avenue Store today.  There was a Line of About 25 People Waiting in the Rain to Get into the Grocery/Pharmacy Store.

Tempers flared outside the 7-Eleven on Washington Avenue when customers were told they could not enter the gas station/convenience store until there were fewer than five people in the store according to a clerk this afternoon.

If we don’t comply with these restrictions, an inspector could come by and shut us down permanently, said one of the store employees.  “We certainly don’t want that to happen,” he said.

Across Washington Avenue at the corner of Cumberland Avenue, the Big Apple convenience store, beginning today has special hours for certain customers. On Thursdays and Sundays, between 10:00 am – 11:00 am, that hour has been reserved exclusively for customers sixty plus and “individuals identified by the CDC as being at high risk.”  Likewise customers were upset about that restriction said a clerk at the gas station/convenience store.  “You mean I can’t come in and buy a beer?” was typical of customer’s  questions said a clerk this afternoon.

At the Hannaford Brothers, Forest Avenue store, about 25 people were lined up outside the store, in the rain, waiting for the number of customers to get below fifty so they could likewise enter and grocery shop.

Governor Janet T. Mills recent Stay Healthy at Home order took affect this morning at 12:01 am.  Among the restrictions in her order, were restrictions on how many customers could enter a venue based on the size of it. It was up to corporations to determine that number based on the footage of the building.

Please see post herein dated March 31, 2020 for more information on Governor’s Mills order affecting essential businesses remaining open.