A Toronto man was in for a surprise after he says a Forest Hill Loblaws that was meant to be closed on Easter Sunday was left open.
While all stores, including grocery stores and pharmacies are usually closed for Good Friday and Easter Sunday, Premier Doug Ford mandated the closures for those days in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
However, one Loblaws, located at 396 St. Clair Avenue, seemed to be open as David Marchione said he noticed people walking in and out of it with groceries as he walked around the neighbourhood Sunday morning.
“There was one man with about four bags in each hand that were completely full with stuff. So I said to myself, ‘Wow it’s actually open but everyone thinks it’s closed,'” Marchione wrote on Facebook.
Click here to viewHe said he then went inside the store and saw four to five people shopping around with the lights on and smooth jazz playing over the loudspeaker.
A video posted to Reddit appears to show a deserted, yet open Loblaws. The 20-second video shows empty aisles, along with no cashiers or workers. The video ends with a view of a Toronto police cruiser parked out front of the store.
Marchione said he got what he needed but when he went to pay, that’s when he realized there were no cashiers. He then went to self-checkout only to notice those weren’t open either.
“Turns out those people I saw with groceries literally shopped and left without paying like an episode of Supermarket Sweep. They straight jacked Loblaws.”
Toronto police said they received a call about the situation just after 10:41 a.m. An officer said staff did not lock up the night before.
There was no further information regarding whether or not groceries were stolen but police said PC Parks told them that contrary to reports, there were no people leaving with “bags of groceries.”